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What’s the story?
Australian batsman Glenn Maxwell has been appointed as the captain of the Kings XI Punjab side ahead of the Indian Premier League 2017 which begins next month. The franchise made the announcement on March 9th through their social media account Twitter.
In case you didn’t know...
Maxwell, who has been one of the top performers for KXIP since joining them back in 2014 replaced Indian Test opener Murali Vijay as the captain of the side. Vijay was named captain towards the end of last season after a disastrous campaign under the captaincy of David Miller. The Punjab side also made a lot of other changes to their team management as they appointed former India batsman and KXIP player Virender Sehwag as the CEO of operations of the side.
The heart of the matter
After reaching the final of the tournament back in 2014, the Kings XI Punjab had a disastrous campaign in 2015 and 2016 as the finished as the season’s wooden spoon holders on both occasions. Maxwell who was the top performer for KXIP in the 2014 edition which was held in UAE with 552 runs in 16 matches failed to perform in the previous two seasons as Punjab struggled to get wins under their belt.
Extra Cover: IPL 2017 Schedule: Full Time Table with venue ground details, PDF Download
However after a successful international campaign over the past 12 months or so with the Australian cricket team and with a few other sides in domestic T20 tournaments around the world, Maxwell would be hoping for a change in fortune for himself as well as his side.
What’s next?
The IPL 2017 will begin on April 5th when the Sunrisers Hyderabad take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium in Hyderabad. Punjab’s first match will be against Rising Pune Supergiants at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on April 8th.
Sportskeeda's take
With a change in team management and now captaincy, the Kings XI Punjab would be hoping to get a lot more wins under their belt than they did over the last two years. Maxwell will be captaining the side for the first time and it will be interesting to see how he is able to manage the entire side and goes about the team’s strategy. With a lot of superstars in their batting line-up including the likes of David Miller, Marcus Stoinis, and newly purchased Eoin Morgan, Punjab could be a force to reckon with this IPL.
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