Kings XI Punjab will fight for their maiden title in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2020) which will get underway on September 19 in UAE. The Punjab-based team doesn't boast off an excellent IPL record as their performances over the years have been rather underwhelming. KXIP tend to lose the plot in the middle the season, and they often find themselves in the bottom of the team standings. Nevertheless, they will aim to turn their fortunes under the leadership of KL Rahul in the forthcoming season. Below, we’ll look at the previous performances, records, key players and squad of Kings XI Punjab. Kings XI Punjab Team SWOT Analysis: Ahead of IPL 2020 Find Out Positives And Negatives of KL Rahul’s KXIP.

In the past year, KL Rahul emerged as the mainstay of India’s batting line-up in white-ball cricket and will like to showcase his blitzes in the forthcoming tournament. However, it’s his maiden captaincy assignment, and it’ll be interesting to see how he’ll rose to the challenge. Other than Rahul, the likes of Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Glenn Maxwell and Nicholas Pooran will handle the mantle in the batting department. KXIP Squad for IPL 2020 in UAE: Check Updated Players' List of Kings XI Punjab Team Led by KL Rahul.

At the same time, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Mohammed Shami, Chris Jordon and Murugan Ashwin will have the onus to take wickets with the ball. Well, all these players are the proven stars of T20 format and have the ability to win the game single-handedly. However, they’ll have to come good as a group to guide KXIP to their first-ever trophy.

Key Players: Chris Gayle, 40, hasn’t played a lot of cricket in the past year. Hence, skipper KL Rahul will have to lead from the front while opening the batting. Other than him, Mohammed Shami, Mujeeb ur Rehman, Nicholas Pooran, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Maxwell and Sheldon Cottrell are vital cogs of their respective national teams in limited-overs cricket and are expected to do well in the upcoming tournament.

KXIP Record in Previous Seasons

Season Points Table Finish  Final Finish 
IPL 2008 2nd Semi-finalist
IPL 2009 5th 5th
IPL 2010 8th 8th
IPL 2011 5th 5th
IPL 2012 6th 6th
IPL 2013 6th 6th
IPL 2014 1st Runners-up
IPL 2015 8th 8th
IPL 2016 8th 8th
IPL 2017 5th 5th
IPL 2018 7th 7th
IPL 2019 6th 6th

 

KXIP Squad for IPL 2020

Domestic: KL Rahul (c), Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh, Ishan Porel, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, M Ashwin, J Suchith, Harpreet Brar, Darshan Nalkande, Krishnappa Gowtham, Deepak Hooda, Tajinder Singh Dhillon, Prabhsimran Singh.

Overseas: Chris Gayle, Sheldon Cottrell, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Hardus Viljoen, Glenn Maxwell, James Neesham, Chris Jordan, Nicholas Pooran.

KXIP Stats

The Men in Red have played 176 IPL matches so far and could win only 80 of them. During this time, two of their games also resulted in a tie. KXIP have suffered defeat in 94 matches while their win percentage is just 45.45. They enjoyed their best campaign in 2014 season where they finished the group stage at the pinnacle and also reached their maiden IPL final. However, they lost to KKR in the summit clash.

Most Runs And Wickets for KXIP: Shaun Marsh is the highest run-scorer of Kings XI Punjab to date. In 71 matches, the Australian southpaw scored 2477 at a brilliant average of 39.95. He also won the orange cap in the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2008. On the other hand, Piyush Chawla is leading the bowling charts for KXIP. The veteran leg-spinner has claimed 84 wickets in 87 matches for KXIP.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 29, 2020 03:20 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).