IPL 2018: Kings XI Punjab release a list of candidates to captain them this season

What’s the story?

After the IPL mega auctions, Kings XI Punjab have acquired a solid looking squad. However, they have not yet announced a captain although they have many candidates to choose from.

Kings XI bought 21 players, which includes seven overseas players. Their costliest buy was KL Rahul whom they acquired for INR 11 crore.

Despite the riches in their ranks, Punjab are not too worked up about appointing a captain and the Twitter handle has now released a list of five players who can take over the mantle of the team.

The details

5 obvious contenders or someone else? Kaun Banega King of the North? 👀👇https://t.co/Jg3JhaNbzI. #LivePunjabiPlayPunjabi

— Kings XI Punjab (@lionsdenkxip) January 31, 2018

If the list is to be believed, Yuvraj Singh, Axar Patel, Chris Gayle, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Aaron Finch are the candidates to captain the side.

It should be mentioned here that Yuvraj was the skipper in when the IPL was launched back in 2008.

Aaron Finch has been the captain of the Australian T20 team and is currently the vice-captain of the T20 squad. The burly Australian was also the captain of the now defunct Pune Warriors India.

According to many people, R Ashwin might be the dark horse to take over the mantle, while there is no denying the pedigree of Chris Gayle, both as an IPL player and as a leader.

In case you didn’t know…

KXIP retained only Axar Patel for Rs 12.5 crores before the auctions and then added other players to the roster.

They were one of the busiest teams in the auctions as they went after many players and managed to bag many marquee names.

What’s next?

It will be interesting to see the name which Punjab finally goes ahead with as all the aforementioned players can be great leaders and can inspire the team to win the title for the first time in history.

Author’s take

There is little doubt that the IPL is trying to be more spectator friendly and hence these campaigns can only bolster their visibility amongst the audience.

Also, the franchises will not arrive at any decision in haste and would look to take their time and weigh out all the options before making a final call!