IPL 2018: 4 reasons why KXIP are on a roll this season

#2 Fearsome hitting by the openers

KL Rahul's consistency has been instrumental in KXIP's success this season

Kings XI Punjab will be very grateful to the Royal Challengers Bangalore management for releasing players like KL Rahul and Chris Gayle. The duo is exhibiting some sensational hitting upfront to leave the opposition in shambles. Both Rahul and Gayle, feature among the top five run-scorers of the season. While Rahul occupies the second spot in the batting charts with his tally of 236 runs from six games, Gayle is on the fifth spot with his tally of 229 runs from just three games.

The Gayle-Rahul duo has so far scored 47.40 % of the total runs accumulated by their team in the tournament. Their batting has been so belligerent that none of the two has a strike rate less than 170. Gayle is striking the ball at 170.89 while Rahul is going one level up at 180.15. Gayle didn’t feature in the last clash against Delhi and Rahul, too, had a rare failure, which resulted in KXIP putting an average looking total of 143. This highlights the importance of the opening pair as the bedrock of KXIP’s batting.