Kings XI Punjab is known for making changes in their team ever year. The team has this year invested heavily once again for the IPL 2020. One of the biggest changes they made was having a new captain in the form of KL Rahul who had been in quite a terrific form in the IPL 2019. Talking about Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia owned KXIP, also brought in Anil Kumble as the head coach of the team and terminated their ties with Mike Hesson. The team has already started sweating it out in the nets and ahead of the IPL 2020, let's have a look at the SWOT of KXIP.

Strengths: 

KL Rahul's form in IPL 2019 is the biggest strength for the squad. He had scored 593 runs in 14 games. Glenn Maxwell who has entertained the fans with his sixes makes a comeback into the squads after being at the sidelines last year. Just a day after the IPL auctions, the power hitter had smashed 83 off 39 deliveries for the Melbourne Stars in a Big Bash League match. Players like Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan can handle the pressure at the middle order. So overall their batting unit looks sorted.

Weakness: 

The team no longer has the services of Ravichandran Ashwin. The spinner had scalped 15 wickets for KXIP in IPL 2019 and they would miss out on the services of an experienced guy like Ashwin. Sam Curran who had scalped wickets for KXIP in a few matches was not retained by KXIP. Despite the inclusion of Sheldon Cottrell, the bowling unit does not look as convincing.

Opportunities: 

With KL Rahul and Chris Gayle at the top and then the power hitters like Mandeep, Sarfaraz, Glenn Maxwell, Mayank Agarwal the batting unit can cause maximum damage. Also if Mohammad Shami, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Sheldon Cottrell, and Murugan Ashwin perform to the best to their abilities consistently as a unit, they would look quite unstoppable to lift their maiden title.

Threats: 

The pitch in UAE is likely to support the spinners and thus they could heavily rely on the services of Mujeeb Ur Rehman and Murugan Ashwin. Also if any of these two spinners get injured, there isn't a good name who would back them up. The team has only three potent all-rounders in the team - namely Neesham, Maxwell, and Chris Jordan and in case of injury, you wouldn't really have anyone else for a backup. Lastly, KL Rahul lacks experience with captaincy and it would be interesting to see how he reacts to crunch situations.

The IPL 2020 is all set to begin on September 19, 2020. The fans are eager to watch the team in action and are still waiting for the schedules which will be announced soon.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 27, 2020 05:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).