Kings XI Punjab was certainly the busiest franchise during the IPL auction war which took place recently for two days. Their Co-owner Preity Zinta was trying to buy almost every player who came into the auction. Many Players who got sold in the auction would be thanking Preity Zinta for possibly increasing their price. But at the end of auctions, they bought only 21 players with 16-year-old Afghan spinner Mujeeb Zadran being their surprise pick.
Also Read: IPL 2018: SWOT Analysis of the Chennai Super Kings
IPL 2018: SWOT Analysis of the Kings XI Punjab
All said and done, let’s take a look at the Kings XI Punjab through the SWOT analysis.
Sunrisers Hyderabad Squad:
Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Ravichandran Ashwin, Andrew Tye, Aaron Finch, Marcus Stoinis, Chris Gayle, Yuvraj Singh, Karun Nair, Mujeeb Zadran, Ankit Singh Rajpoot, David Miller, Mohit Sharma, Barinder Singh Sran, Ben Dwarshuis, Akshdeep Nath, Manoj Tiwary, Mayank Agarwal, Manzoor Dar, Pardeep Sahu and Mayank Dagar.
Strengths:
Kings XI Punjab has a strong batting line up this time around. They have a lot of options to open the batting with. They have the experience of Yuvraj Singh, Manoj Tiwari, and David Miller in the middle order.
The spin department of KXIP looks good with Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, and the highly rated Afghan Spinner Mujeeb Zadran.
Weaknesses:
Fast bowling is an area of concern for the KXIP. Andrew Tye is the only Reliable Fast bowler in the squad. They lack a quality Indian fast bowler.
Captaincy does play a big role in the success of a team. KXIP are yet to decide who their captain is. Possible options are Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuvraj Singh, Aaron Finch, Axar Patel and Chris Gayle. It’s a huge headache for the management and they need to sort it out quickly.
Wicket Keeping is another problem for them. KL Rahul is their supposed first choice WKB for now. He is not so good with the gloves.
Opportunities:
This year’s IPL is more of a make or break situation for Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuvraj Singh. It is probably their last chance to get into selector’s scheme of things for 2019 World cup. It’s a great opportunity for Karnataka boys Karun Nair, Mayank Agarwal and two very good young fast bowlers Barinder Sran and Ankit Singh Rajpoot.
Threats:
KXIP might have bought one too many openers. Karun Nair, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, Aaron Finch and Chris Gayle. At Least two of them might have to bat in middle order. We have to see if they can adapt and perform well in the middle order.
KL Rahul is generally an injury-prone cricketer and now he has to bear the responsibilities of wicket keeping as well which takes a toll on the body. It will be interesting to see if he is up to the challenge.
Tags: Chennai Super Kings, CSK, DD, Delhi Daredevils, Indian Premier League, IPL 2018, Kings XI Punjab, KKR, Kolkata Knight Riders, KXIP, MI, Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, RCB, Royal Challengers Bangalore, RR, SRH, Sunrisers Hyderabad, SWOT Analysis
