It is official! Ravichandran Ashwin has now been officially decided as the captain of the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) team in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018. Ending all speculations around the captaincy issue, the team management has backed R Ashwin to lead the team in the 11th edition of the IPL. There were speculations that Yuvraj Singh and Aaron were also considered for the captaincy role.

R Ashwin has played for Chennai Super Kings (CSK), since the beginning of his IPL career. The off-spinner played only a season for another franchise – Rising SuperGiants Pune in 2016 when his side was suspended by the Supreme Court. Ashwin sat out the entire 2017 IPL, nursing a hernia injury. It was surprising to see CSK not retaining Ashwin in this year's auction, who has been their premier spinner since 2009. KXIP Schedule For IPL 2018: Full Fixtures, Match Timetable, Date, Time & Venue of Kings XI Punjab Team in 11th IPL.

The team’s official handle had tweeted a day earlier, on February 25 that team mentor Virender Sehwag had some exciting news for the fans, and it will be worth the wait. With the announcement of Ashwin being crowned as the Kings XI Punjab’s captain, it seemed that it was worth the wait. Soon after the announcement, team coach Brad Hodge and other KXIP team-mates started posting congratulatory messages on micro-blogging site Twitter.

1. The announcement for 'King of the North' is finally made!

2. Team-mate Barinder Sran led the congratulatory messages that soon followed.

3. Lokesh Rahul, their costliest purchase, wasn't behind in welcoming the new captain!

4. Head Coach Brad Hodge was gung-ho too, with the announcement.

5. Explosive Australian opener Aaron Finch seemed quite ecstatic!

One of the most jubilant franchises in the IPL Auction this year, the Punjab franchise, was too curious to splurge on key players. With all the talent they had acquired over the years, the side has fallen short in their performances during crunch situations. It will also be interesting to see how R Ashwin manages to handle the seniors in the side - Yuvraj Singh and Chris Gayle.

FULL KINGS XI PUNJAB SQUAD FOR IPL 2018 [21 Players]

Ravichandran Ashwin (Captain), Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Yuvraj Singh, Christopher Gayle, Andrew Tye, Aaron Finch, Marcus Stoinis, Karun Nair, Mujeeb Zadran, Ankit Singh Rajput, David Miller, Mohit Sharma, Barinder Singh Sran, Ben Dwarshuis, Akshdeep Nath, Manoj Tiwary, Mayank Agarwal, Manzoor Dar, Pardeep Sahu, and Mayank Dagar. Head Coach: Brad Hodge

The cash-rich Twenty20 tournament begins on April 7 and is scheduled to end on May 31. The Preity Zinta co-owned franchise has managed to reach the finals of IPL for only once, in 2014, in its previous 10 editions. Kings XI Punjab, under their new leader R Ashwin, would be looking forward to changing their fortunes this IPL season.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 26, 2018 06:37 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).