IPL 2018:  Virender Sehwag believes the current Kings XI team is the best in last 10 years

What's the matter?

Ahead of the IPL, Virender Sehwag believes that the league can see a different champion this time. He believes that every team is equal this time, with respect to strength and balance. In an interview with The Hindu, Sehwag said, "Fans can expect the world from us because this is the best Kings XI team in the last ten years. We have some fantastic Indian players. And we have (Chris) Gayle. We have the stuff to win the IPL."

In case you didn't know...

In 2016, Sehwag took up a new and different role with the Punjab franchise as a mentor to the team. His individual best score in IPL, 122 off 58, also came while he was representing the same franchise in 2014.

The heart of the matter

"In the past, we didn't have that strong a team and the Indian players were also not that good except Axar and Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper). But this time, we have players who are playing regularly for the national team. I think that we have so far the best team and that is why we feel that we could win this edition," Sehwag told the reporters.

In the presence of ace Indian players like Yuvraj Singh, KL Rahul and R Ashwin, captaining the side, along with domestic brilliance of Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Manoj Tiwary and Mohit Sharma, the team looks immensely strong. They are also riding on the added advantage of one of the biggest T20 players, Chris Gayle who was bought at 2 crores by the franchise.

At the jersey launch, speaking of appointing R Ashwin as the captain, Sehwag said that the bowler could become a good captain because of his ability to read the situations quicker. "The best quality in Ashwin is that he is very smart and he can change the bowlers very quickly. He understands the T20 format better than anybody else because he used to bowl in Powerplay, he used to bowl in slog overs. So, he knows what to do in T20 format," the former batsman asserted.

What's next?

The roaring Punjab team meet the Delhi Daredevils on the second day of the IPL, 8th April, in Mohali.

Author's take

It would've passed through everybody's mind during the auctions that the Kings XI were eyeing just the right players and were pretty successful in signing them all. This does look like a power-packed team which can surely aim for the playoffs at least, if nothing else. With Ashwin, a bowler, as their captain, it would be interesting to see his field tactics and the way things turn out in the course of time.