Kings XI Punjab - Ammunition in place, but can they deliver?

Viru days are just around the corner!

What is common between Kings XI Punjab and the Aam Aadmi Party? Answer: Everybody knows they have potential, but no one expects them to win in the end.

In the previous editions, Kings XI have tried to play cricket by applying the MSD Law of Cricket Dynamics, according to which,”A body that starts slowly, accelerates as soon as it realizes it is falling behind the eight ball, and reaches the finish line just in the nick of time.”

Unfortunately for Punjab, such a law doesn’t exist except in the mind of the author of this article, and Kings XI’s slow starts have prevented them to reach the last four in all but one season of the IPL.

A major reason why Kings XI haven’t been a dominant force is because of their imbecile purchases during the auctions in the earlier seasons. It takes a brave heart (like the author of this article) to constantly support a side that has Piyush Chawla as its frontline spinner, who I believe was God’s answer to all of Preity Zinta’s wrong-doings in the past, which includes acting in movies like Jhoom Barabar Jhoom; alongside couple of terrifying, super ultra military-medium bowlers like Praveen Kumar and Manpreet Gony. Mind you, the word ‘terrifying’ above is used in context other than cricket. Remember Kumar’s problems against an umpire and Gony’s death threats?

But, here’s some good news for the Punjab side.

Just like every dark night is followed by day, every storm is followed by sunshine, every Rohit Sharma is followed by Virat Kohli, and every N Srinivasan is followed by…oh wait! The point is that the happy days for the Kings XI Punjab are just around the corner. It took Preity Zinta six IPL seasons and an Ishkq in Paris to realize that IPL is not a hugging festival. In this year’s auction, some shrewd buys have been made, and the nucleus of the Punjab side has changed, and hopefully this time, for the better.

A noteworthy purchase for Kings XI was that of Virender Sehwag for Rs 3.25 crores. Two things might happen now: It might just turn out to be Zinta’s smartest business moves ever, or, it might turn out to be an opportunity lost for her to produce a low-budget movie to resurrect her dwindling Bollywood career. And if Sehwag fires for Punjab, Delhi Daredevil’s decision to let go Sehwag and purchase Dinesh Kartik for Rs 12.5 crores will be the worst decision coming out from Delhi since the start of the Blueline buses.

The wrath of Sehwag will be accompanied by the tranquility of Cheteshwar Pujara, someone who is so composed that before he was bought in the auction, Preity Zinta made him watch Jaaneman looped for 12 hours, in a room alone with no popcorn, and Pujara still walked out of the room unperturbed. Ok, not really! But yes, Pujara’s calm presence at the top does lend stability to Kings XI’s flamboyant batting line-up.

One man who could also possibly open with Sehwag, and thus dropping Pujara to number three, is the prolific run-getter in the IPL, Shaun Marsh. A strong performance by Marsh this season could very well open doors for him in the national side, just like how a strong performance opened doors for him in the national side in 2008, which was similar to how a strong performance opened doors for him in the national side in 2011, and well, then again, in 2012.

If there was ever a world eleven comprising of the cleanest strikers of a cricket ball then George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell, David Miller and Thisara Perera would have featured in it. Kings XI boasts of so many formidable names in the middle-order that they had to buy Wriddhiman Saha to maintain the talent equilibrium of their side.

In George Bailey, Kings XI have a seasoned campaigner. Bailey is a man with one emotion for all seasons which makes him the perfect man to lead the Punjab side, especially when someone like a Sehwag is batting in the middle.

If there was ever a book written titled ‘How to get your eye in while batting’, Glenn Maxwell would be the last person to buy it (with Sehwag being the second last). While other batsmen take a couple of deliveries to acclimatize while batting in T20 cricket, Maxwell does that while walking from the pavilion to the middle. He’s the kind of bloke who can make the great Jack Hobbs squirm in his grave. With the calmness of Bailey and Miller already in the middle order, Maxwell provides the ideal exuberance for the Kings XI.

Kings XI’s think tank have hoped to cover all its bases in the bowling department, and in the process, have build an attack that has

• a foreign fast-bowler fresh after an injury break who has the ability to bowl rib-numbing snorters at will;
• a wily Indian seam bowler who is an expert in bowling at the death;
• a highly experienced Indian left-arm spinner capable of bowling in the powerplays; alongside,
• young talented Indian pace bowlers who are ready to deliver at international level.

Mitchell Johnson will be looking forward to taking some beard growing tips from Kings XI’s mascot Ranjit

Just as it could also prove to be bowling attack that has

• a foreign fast-bowler returning from injury who is rusty and therefore bowls erratic lines;
• an Indian seam-bowler who is a national team outcast and bowls freebies in the death overs;
• a dated left-arm spinner who earns his living by playing county cricket and commentating; alongside
• inexperienced Indian pace bowlers are called ‘fast bowlers’ because they can bowl 130-plus.

Overall, this time around Kings XI Punjab do possess all the ammunition required to lift the IPL trophy, unless of-course Preity Zinta has a Fantasy League squad with no Kings XI players, and so asks her players to under-perform so that she can win an customized Sportskeeda T-shirt with ‘Sachin is God’ printed on it.