Kings XI Punjab will search for a maiden Indian Premier League title when IPL 2021 begins in the second week of April later this year. Punjab finished sixth in the points table in IPL 2020 and haven’t made the IPL playoffs since reaching the final in the 2014 edition. But with a strong pick at the IPL 2021 players auction, the Preity Zinta-owned franchise will be confident of mounting a title challenge in the next edition of the tournament. The IPL 2021 players auction was held in Chennai on February 18 (Thursday) and Punjab entered the IPL 2021 auction as the team with the biggest purse.  IPL 2021 Players Auction: Three Players Who Can Emerge As Most Expensive Buys at Indian Premier League Season 14 Bidding.

Despite a strong contingent in the previous IPL seasons, KXIP have struggled to break into the top four. They have reached the IPL playoffs only twice in the tournament’s 13-year history. Punjab reached the playoffs in the inaugural edition of the IPL in 2008. But had to wait for six years for their next participation in the playoffs. They reached the final in 2014 and have again failed to finish in the top four since then. KXIP IPL 2021 Squad: List of Retained & Released Players by Kings XI Punjab Team Ahead of Auctions.

They had already retained the likes of Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran and Chris Jordan and have still spots available for eight more overseas stars. Deepak Hooda, who impressed in the final few matches, was also retained as was youngsters Ravi Bishnoi and Prabhsimran Singh. IPL 2021 Auction, Purse of Each Team: Here’s How Much Money Franchises Can Spend on During Indian Premier League Bidding.

KXIP Full Squad IPL 2021

KXIP Players Bought At IPL 2021 Auction

Dawid Malan, Jhye Richardson, Riley Meredith, Shahrukh Khan, Moises Henriques, Jalaj Saxena,  Fabian Allen, Moises Henriques, Jalaj Saxena, Utkarsh Singh, Fabian Allan, Saurabh Kumar.

KXIP Players Retained Ahead of IPL 2021 Players Auction

KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Prabhsimran Singh, Mohammed Shami, Chris Jordan, Darshan Nalkande, Ravi Bishnoi, Murugan Ashwin, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Ishan Porel.

KXIP Previous Season Recap

Last season, the KL Rahul side showed tremendous resolve to win five consecutive matches and be in the fray for the playoffs after starting with six defeats in seven matches. But the franchise eventually had to settle for a sixth-place finish. Punjab had to win each of their last seven matches after winning just one in their first seven. They won five on the trot but lost their final two games to end another edition of the IPL outside the top four.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 18, 2021 04:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).