5 reasons why KXIP have failed this year

Strange things happen in cricket. The 20 over format seems short but in cricket even that short time-frame sees wild swings. Momentum and confidence are everything in T20 and if there is one team that is the epitome of this observation, it is a passionate owner’s unlucky team, Kings XI Punjab.

Year after year, we have seen PreityZinta supporting her team, only to see them falter at various stages.

In 2014, Kings XI Punjab was everyone’s second favorite team. They played a fresh brand of cricket, fearless (now a very common buzzword), entertaining and confident. Under George Bailey, who looked cool, calm and composed at most times. KXIP went from strength to strength, making it to the IPL Final where their dream run ended at the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders.

But until then, KXIP seemed like the perfect team with flashy openers, powerful middle order, a couple of cool finishers, a good spinner and two good new-ball bowlers. It has to be a champion team to beat Chennai Super Kings thrice in the same IPL. A year later, the same team finished with the wooden spoon, long before No.1 to No.6 positions on the leader board could be decided.

Here are five reasons that probably led to their fall:

1. Glenn Maxwell’s Bad Form

Glenn Maxwell

Glenn Maxwell scored 552 runs in 2014 at an average of 34.5 and a strike-rate of 187.75. He smashed four half-centuries with a highest score of 95. This year he was at No.42 compared to last year’s No.3, on the leading run-scorers list.

In 11 games, Maxwell scored a mere 145 runs at an average of 13 and a strike-rate of 129 with not a single half-century. That stark contrast in their best batsman’s fortunes alone was enough for KXIP to lose quite a few games, games they won with ease last year.

2. No consistent run-scorers

Virendra Sehwag failed to impress this season

Maxwell’s loss of form wasn’t the only reason why KXIP performed so poorly this year.

In 2014, KXIP had three players in the top 10 run-scorers of the tournament – Maxwell at No 3 with 552 runs at an average of 34.5 and a strike-rate of 187.75, VirenderSehwag at No 6 with 455 runs at 26.7 and a strike-rate of 144 and David Miller at No 7 with 446 runs at an average of 44.6 and a strike-rate of 149. WriddhimanSaha and Manan Vohra chipped in with 362 and 324 runs respectively with George Bailey registering seven not-outs with 257 runs.

This year, KXIP’s highest run-getter David Miller came in at No.14 with just 357 runs at an average of 32.45 and a strike-rate of 134. George Bailey was a distant second with 259 runs at No 26. Murali Vijay and Saha at 27 and 28 had 251 and 249 runs respectively.

That pretty much tells the story as to why KXIP never really won many this season. They hardly had anyone making runs with just one batsman in the top 20 run-scorers. That is quite a fall in one year.

It could be attributed to loss of form of both Maxwell and Sehwag. Miller, although in form, didn’t quite get the boost or the foundation he received last year with Sehwag and Maxwell setting it up for him previously. Manan Vohra hardly got any games up front to add to their woes, a tactical blunder that cost KXIP quite a bit.

3. Mitchell Johnson’s horror run

Out of form Mitchell Johnson

Mitchell Johnson was a shadow of what he was last year. From 17 wickets at an economy of 8.2, Johnson came down to 9 wickets in 9 games at bowling average of 37 with an economy of 9.37.

He was getting clobbered by batsmen who were not exactly in prime form until KXIP happened to them, Parthiv Patel being a classic example. Johnson’s bad form this year left Sandeep Sharma without a sparring partner and it is common knowledge that fast bowlers hunt in pairs.

While Sharma managed to create pressure in the first half of the IPL, he hardly had someone to exploit that pressure from the other end.

4. The bowling disaster

KXIP had three bowlers in the top 10 wicket-takers in 2014. Sandeep Sharma, Axar Patel, and Mitchell Johnson had 19, 18 and 17 wickets respectively with Axar Patel boasting of a fabulous economy rate of 6.13.

They occupied positions 5 to 7 on the wicket-takers’ list. Rishi Dhawan and LakshmipathyBalaji had 13 and 12 wickets coming at positions 16 and 20 respectively. In stark contrast KXIP had just three bowlers in the top 20 wicket takers this year - Anureet Singh, Sandeep Sharma and Axar Patel at No 13, No 15 and No 19 respectively with just 15, 13 and 13 wickets each.

Johnson was at No 32 with 9 wickets. Interestingly, KXIP persisted with Johnson for 9 games, by then their campaign was over. He could have played a lot less considering his bad form – another tactical blunder by KXIP.

5. Confusion in batting order

KXIP had a confused battling line-up

There were numerous blunders that led to KXIP’s dismal performance this year. While it is hard to predict the winning strategy or winning combination, it is sometimes foolish to continue with something that isn’t working.

Shaun Marsh managed to win KXIP a game on his own but didn’t do well in the next three games. That is all he got though - 4 games. Maxwell, on the other hand, got a really long run in spite of his terrible form. The gamble of persisting with Maxwell didn’t pay-off just like the gamble with Johnson in the bowling department didn’t.

That was not all. Murali Vijay was getting starts without converting them, while Sehwag, his opening partner was clearly out of touch, managing 99 runs in eight games. Vohra got seven games in which he managed just 82 runs.

So, KXIP had two openers who were chopped and changed and neither fired. It is a mystery as to why Saha wasn’t promoted in spite of doing well and why Vohra wasn’t tried earlier on in spite of being one of the better players in last year’s squad. RCB turned their fortunes around by promoting AB de Villiers to No 3.

KXIP never tried sending their best batsman David Miller higher up, not once. Rishi Dhawan got just five games and ThisaraPerera two. In other words, the few changes KXIP tried didn’t fire and that pretty much stopped them from being flexible and going for all-out changes.

In cricket, confidence is everything. When things went well, KXIP did everything perfectly on the field too. This year, the number of heists they managed came down, the number of brilliant catches in the outfield came down and so did the number of runs they saved on the field. It was hard to envisage them anywhere other than at the bottom with those kind of performances!