Post the IPL 2018 auctions, the franchises have a new look to the team with many new faces coming up and some old veteran players to represent their local franchise. With the 11th edition of Indian Premier League to start off in April, team Circle of Cricket gets down to list the key players from Kings XI Punjab squad who can make a difference with their performance this year.
Since the inaugural edition of the tournament Kings XI have had a rough journey throughout all the seasons with their best performance coming in IPL 2014 where they had reached the finals but unfortunately lost in the last over encounter against the knight riders of Kolkata.
Chris Gayle
Chris Gayle who was at last bought by the franchise in the last few minutes at his base price of 2 Crore rupees can definitely prove his haters wrong. Chris Gayle who is also known as the Universal Boss holds the highest individual run score that was 175 runs off just 66 deliveries playing for RCB against the Pune Warrior was a total bliss. He is one of the players who can change the fortune of Kings XI this season. The player from Jamaica comes with a lot of power who can demolish any side on his particular day.
At the top of the order, he will be playing alongside some serious T20 specialists like Aaron Finch who was recently awarded as Australia's T20 player of the year. Aaron Finch and Chris Gayle batting together for Punjab might prove to be a deadly combination in the coming IPL season.
Yuvraj Singh
Coming to the all-rounders there is no better option other than Yuvraj Singh for Kings XI. Yuvraj who also went for his base price of Rs 2 crores might be seen adding his local Punjabi flavor to the team. Yuvraj has two IPL hattricks under his name with exceptional flying skills on the 22 yards pitch. The player will surely be an advantage to the team with his current cricket form for team Punjab in Vijay Hazare Trophy. Yuvraj the most experienced player in the dugout has scored more than 2500 runs in IPL.
The 36-year-old player will have support from Punjab's most consistent player David Miller who has an ability to kill opposition's bowling attack. Miller shares the record of scoring the fastest T20 International hundred with Rohit Sharma that came off just 35 balls. Yuvraj's intelligence will provide stability to Kings XI Punjab. He might be on the wrong side of 30, but still possess the power to clear the field with ease.
Ravichandran Ashwin
Ravichandran Ashwin who was won by Kings XI from Chennai Super Kings in the IPL auction 2018 for 7.6 crore Rupees can prove to be a dangerous and intelligent buy for the team throughout the season. With his carrom ball specialty, he can take many wickets upfront for the team.
He will get support from the only retained left arm off spinner Axar Patel. Together they can determine to be very destructive for other players. Ravichandran Ashwin can also become the captain of the team as he has led Tamil Nadu many times at domestic level. Earlier he represented CSK but now the time has come where he will be seen playing more freely for the Kings XI from Punjab.
The players listed above, form the core strength of the franchise and have the ability to win matches for the team. It will be great to see how each one of them performs under the mentorship of Virender Sehwag.
