Can Kings XI Punjab turn the tide this IPL ?

Barring the first edition of the IPL, Kings XI Punjab has not exactly inspired awe with their performance.  This has mostly been attributed to the imbalance in team selection and lack of match winners. Things however started to look up in the previous season with the emergence of match winners like David Miller, Manan Vohra and Azhar Mahmood, who sadly went unsold this time.  The agenda is clear then, its time to shake off the past and build a power packed unit, which they lacked all these years.

And look at what the team is now! A cursory glance at the team sheet and you know KXIP is not the KXIP it was known to be- mercurial with only a couple of match winners. For the first time since the IPL began, KXIP will be fielding a XI with atleast half of the side being genuine match winners in their own right. It is akin to the West Indies that won the previous T20 world cup held in Sri Lanka.

A quick overview of the team- the batting promises to be explosive with Sehwag, Marsh, Bailey, Miller, Pujara, Rishi Dhawan, Maxwell, Vohra and one player I found very impressive, Mandeep Singh. It is now clichéd not to write off a senior player, but there are many questions on Virender Sehwag, who is a fan favourite. Age has been catching up with him, and as is the case with all those batsmen who are more hand-eye-coordination than technique, his performance has dipped to the extent that he is perhaps no more on the National selector’s radar. But when he gets going, especially with the cool Shaun Marsh, it can cause worries for bowling attacks around. I however believe the key player to be George Bailey, the captain who is one of those technical players in the side and someone who can hold and innings, much like what Pujara can do and let others play to their strengths. Consider this batting line-up then: Sehwag, Marsh, Pujara, Vohra, Bailey, Maxwell. Yes, goosebumps !

The bowling attack is widely tipped to be a strong one this season, with the likes of Mitchell Johnson, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Rishi Dhawan, Parvinder Awana and the promising Sandeep Sharma. Murali Kartik spearheads the spin department. The old warhorse that he is, it goes without saying that he will be crucial in tying up the batsmen along with Thisara Perera and Rishi Dhawan in the middle overs.

Personally speaking, this is where they might falter. KXIP have traditionally fielded as pace-strong bowling attack because it has pitches that can support that strategy: Mohali and the green top at Dharamshala. The catch however comes in the form of the initial stage of IPL shifting to the UAE with its sun baked and dusty pitches offering very little help to its swing bowlers. What raise the stakes further is that by the time they are back to their home venue, a place in the playoffs might even have been lost. Only Mitchell Johnson appears to be the one who can cause discomfort through sheer pace and also the mindset that the players will now play him with. Balaji will be the key because he is adept at mixing his pace and so can expect to get a lot of wickets by inducing false shots. The focus should be on variety because on dry pitches, the faster they come, the faster they go.

Overall, the team looks really solid.People will be looking forward to Glenn Maxwell’s pyrotechnics, Sehwag’s comeback, Pujara’s ability to bat in limited overs and perhaps with a bated breath (which includes me), Mitchell Johnson’s fiery spells of express fast bowling. With so much to look forward to then, non-qualification for the playoffs this time will be a hard pill to swallow for us, the fans in general and the ever enthusiastic Preity Zinta.

Probable Starting XI:  Sehwag, Marsh, Pujara, Bailey(c), Miller, Dhawan, Saha (wk), Johnson, Awana, Sandeep, Kartik