IPL Team Preview: KXIP
Team Name:- KINGS XI PUNJAB
Captain:- George Bailey
Last season KXIP finished in the lower half of the points table,at the 6th position with 8 wins out of their 16 games. They will face the well-settled Chennai Super Kings in their opening game on 18th April,2014. With the teams undergoing almost a complete makeover this time around, it remains to be seen how the new teams fare as a unit.
KXIP Squad for IPL 7
KXIP had entered the 2014 auction retaining just 2 players in the form of big-hitting South African all-rounder David Miller and young uncapped batsman Manan Vohra which was a surprising decision.
Squad strength: 23
Costliest player: Mitchell Johnson Rs 6.5 crores
Amount spent: Rs 55.9 crores (Rs 4.1 crores remaining)
Overseas players: 7
Batsmen: 8; Bowlers: 8; All-rounders: 6; Wicketkeepers: 1
| Player | Type | Price Paid |
| D Miller | Batsman | Retained |
| M Vohra | Batsman | Retained |
| Mitchell Johnson | All-Rounder | ₹6,50,00,000 |
| Glenn Maxwell | All-Rounder | ₹6,00,00,000 |
| George Bailey | Batsman | ₹3,25,00,000 |
| Virender Sehwag | Batsman | ₹3,20,00,000 |
| Rishi Dhawan | All-Rounder | ₹3,00,00,000 |
| Wriddhiman Saha | Wicket Keeper | ₹2,20,00,000 |
| Shaun Marsh | Batsman | ₹2,20,00,000 |
| Cheteshwar Pujara | Batsman | ₹1,90,00,000 |
| Beuran Hendricks | Bowler | ₹1,80,00,000 |
| Lakshmipathy Balaji | Bowler | ₹1,80,00,000 |
| Thisara Perera | All-Rounder | ₹1,60,00,000 |
| Gurkirat Singh Mann | Batsman | ₹1,30,00,000 |
| Murali Kartik | Bowler | ₹1,00,00,000 |
| Sandeep Sharma | Bowler | ₹85,00,000 |
| Mandeep Hardev Singh | All-Rounder | ₹80,00,000 |
| Akshar Rajesh Patel | All-Rounder | ₹75,00,000 |
| Parvinder Awana | Bowler | ₹65,00,000 |
| Shardul Narendra Thakur | Bowler | ₹20,00,000 |
| Anureet Singh | Bowler | ₹20,00,000 |
| Shivam Sharma | Bowler | ₹10,00,000 |
| Karanveer Singh | All-Rounder | ₹10,00,000 |
Last year’s Strategy: David Miller’s excellent knocks helped KXIP cross the line in some of the matches but apart from that there was little to chear about for them. They found some momentum in the later stages of the tournament but till then it was too late. Gilchrist preferred to sit out in few games,owing to poor form. All in all KXIP fared poorly as a unit.
This year’s Strategy: KXIP management did some smart buying in the auction to get stars like Sehwag,Jhonson,Maxwell,Bailey and Pujara on their side. Johnson’s red-hot form with the ball will make Punjab one of the most feared sides at their home ground. Sehwag is also in good nick after scoring well at the top of the order for Delhi along with Gautam Gambhir to get Delhi to the next stage of the domestic tournament. This squad has some of the biggest in-form players in international circuit.
Possible Best Playing 11:
1. Virender Sehwag
2. Manan Vohra
3. Glenn Maxwell (OVERSEAS)
4. George Bailey (OVERSEAS) (c)
5. David Miller (OVERSEAS)
6. Wriddhiman Saha (WICKETKEEPER)
7. Rishi Dhawan
8. Mitchell Johnson (OVERSEAS)
9. Laxmipathy Balaji
10. Parvinder Awana
11. Murali Kartik
Availability:
Sri Lanka’s tour of Ireland and England will start from 6th May
THUS,Thisara Perera will be available only till May 20.
