IPL 2018 - Series 2 ( The Lion's Den)
To read the previous posts of this series, click the below links
KINGS XI PUNJAB
COACH: VIRENDER SEHWAG
The Punjab Sher's not having that much impressive records in IPL history. Even though they having stars players, still they are looking for their first IPL trophy. In first season 2008 they finished in top four and they finished as runners in 2014. Except those two years they are packing up their bags in round robin itself. This year they are entering with new strategy some old players and some players new to this den. Lets discuss with the problem facing by this team in IPL and their chances of winning in this season.
Here the squad for IPL 2018
At the end of IPL auction 2018, KXIP picked 21 players for this season including 7 overseas players. As everyone knows they retained Axar Patel alone at the time of retention. They raised hands for bidding almost every players. But most of them they cant get because of the RTM card. I think surely KXIP will hate RTM card. They missed to get Shikar Dhawan itself in first bid.
Still they picked some biggies like Ashwin, Finch, Yuvi, Stoinis, Tye, Miller, Rahul, Karun and finally the predator Chris Gayle. That was a great move made by KXIP. Overall they having 7 Batsmen, 7 All-rounders and 7 Bowlers. Surely KXIP will miss their hitter Gleen maxwell.
The man with most centuries in IPL history went unsold two times in this IPL auction. His recent form makes the team owners in picking this beast. He is having lot of records in short format games including most centuries, fastest century, highest individual score, most sixes etc., This year he performed electrifying knocks in Bangladesh Premier League. Still went unsold because of the base price given to him. At last KXIP picked him without any competition. In round robin KXIP gonna play 14 games atleast we can expect 3 to 4 dangerous knocks from this Jamaica King.
Out of these three, KL Rahul will play all the matches both as a batsman and wicket keeper. Finch can play as a batsman also as a captain if the team selects him. Gayle, his position not confirmed, he may play few matches or may play all the matches it based upon the playing XI. If Rahul and Gayle opens for KXIP, it will be dangerous one for opponent a hard hitter south paw and aggressive right hand striker. If this happens Finch should play at No 3
Here the squad for IPL 2018
At the end of IPL auction 2018, KXIP picked 21 players for this season including 7 overseas players. As everyone knows they retained Axar Patel alone at the time of retention. They raised hands for bidding almost every players. But most of them they cant get because of the RTM card. I think surely KXIP will hate RTM card. They missed to get Shikar Dhawan itself in first bid.
Still they picked some biggies like Ashwin, Finch, Yuvi, Stoinis, Tye, Miller, Rahul, Karun and finally the predator Chris Gayle. That was a great move made by KXIP. Overall they having 7 Batsmen, 7 All-rounders and 7 Bowlers. Surely KXIP will miss their hitter Gleen maxwell.
Top Order
Kings XI having a very good opening pair in IPL 2018. They have three batsmen for that KL Rahul, Aaron Finch and Chris Gayle.
The Aussie hitter will be the perfect choice for opening batsman. He showed his brilliant form against team England earlier. Past two years he played for Gujarat Lions and scored more than 300 runs in each series. The aggressive australian can play at any position with the same strike. He can swing his bat and send the ball to the boundary line effortlessly. Finch can play big shots at earlier over which helps the team to maintain the run rate higher at starting overs itself.
KL Rahul the local boy, one of the young most talented Indian Batsman. He is having a tremendous performance in overseas. The man belongs to the record of 7 consecutive fifties in test matches. He is one among the Indian batsman who scored a century in T20 international. Till 2017 he played for RCB, but this year he is gonna face some new challenges. In RCB he played without pressure due to the presence of Virat and ABD. But in KXIP, Rahul is the key batsman the team depends on him. Basically he is a wicket keeping batsman, So he will be the wicket keeper for KXIP. Rahul should open for KXIP either with Finch or Gayle.
The man with most centuries in IPL history went unsold two times in this IPL auction. His recent form makes the team owners in picking this beast. He is having lot of records in short format games including most centuries, fastest century, highest individual score, most sixes etc., This year he performed electrifying knocks in Bangladesh Premier League. Still went unsold because of the base price given to him. At last KXIP picked him without any competition. In round robin KXIP gonna play 14 games atleast we can expect 3 to 4 dangerous knocks from this Jamaica King.
Out of these three, KL Rahul will play all the matches both as a batsman and wicket keeper. Finch can play as a batsman also as a captain if the team selects him. Gayle, his position not confirmed, he may play few matches or may play all the matches it based upon the playing XI. If Rahul and Gayle opens for KXIP, it will be dangerous one for opponent a hard hitter south paw and aggressive right hand striker. If this happens Finch should play at No 3
The Walls
Kings XI having strong players to play in position 3 and 4. They have three options for this position. Surprisingly all three are domestic players Manoj Tiwary, Karun Nair and Mayank Agarwal. Out of these three only two can be inside the playing XI.
Mayank Agarwal, this man is in great form this year. He scored a mind blowing of 2141 runs during 2017-2018 domestic season. After a mountain of runs in the Ranji Trophy - 1160 at 105.45, with five centuries - as Karnataka reached the semi-finals, Agarwal switched seamlessly into T20 mode to score 258 runs at a strike-rate of 144.94 in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and then in the recent Vijay Hazare Trophy racked up a tournament record 723 runs at 90.37, which culminated with Karnataka lifting the domestic one-day title. BCCI focused their eyes towards this guy based on his performance in domestic tournaments. Soon we can expect this guy to join in the men in blue squad. So i would like to suggest mayank aka moni should play in the playing XI at position 3 or 4.
Karun Nair, the captain of Karnataka team made his team to win Vijay-Hazare Trophy this year. He already made his presence in Indian team and made a memorable record of scoring triple century in test cricket against England that too just in his third test. Till now he played for three teams in IPL like Rajastan royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Daredevils. But as like domestic his performance was not upto the level in IPL history. He scored 1158 runs with an average of 25.17 with 8 half-centuries. This year he can get many chances to bat at earlier, he have to prove himself in short format games too.
The experienced batsman Manoj Tiwary playing at the ending stage of his career. He is one among the players having talent but not getting chances like Uthappa and Dinesh karthik. He is playing IPL from the season1 onwards. So far he played for the teams DD, KKR and RSP. Eventhough he already made his entry in Indian team he didnt get enough matches to prove himself. He can play well in 50over formats and T20 formats. Last year he made the middle order strong for the team RisingPune super giants. He scored a decent score of 324 runs which the team RSP needs. This year he must have to use his chances otherwise within 3 years the auctioners will forget this guy.
Out of these three only two can accommodate in playing XI. Surely Mayank Agarwal will play because of his recent form. But there will be close competition between Manoj Tiwary and Karun Nair. KXIP captain Ashwin definitely wants both of them to play but if both were in playing XI, a biggie should sit in the bench????
Comments
Post a Comment