IPL 2020: 3 ways KXIP could line up next season

3. Bits 'n' pieces

KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Glenn Maxwell, Nicholas Pooran, Sarfaraz Khan, James Neesham, Deepak Hooda, Chris Jordan, Krishnappa Gowtham, Jagadeesha Suchith

This XI is quite an interesting one but despite the intrigue it holds, we shouldn't expect to see it at all during the course of the tournament. We can consider it more of a thought experiment, or an exercise in team-building.

Kiwi all-rounder Jimmy Neesham will shoulder a large amount of responsibility in this XI

The very foundation of this playing XI is the all-rounders - players who can do a bit of both bowling and batting, and cannot be classed purely as one or the other. The make-up here is quite different to the previous two teams, starting with one of the opening slots.

Chris Gayle drops out and Mayank Agarwal opens the innings with KL Rahul, with Karun Nair, Glenn Maxwell and Nicholas Pooran following them. So far, not much difference.

However, coming in at 7 we have Sarfaraz Khan, followed by Jimmy Neesham, Deepak Hooda, Chris Jordan, Krishnappa Gowtham and Jagadeesha Suchith.

The real advantage of this line-up is the fact that all 11 players in it are more than handy with the bat in hand - to the extent that Suchith, normally a number 8 or 9 batsman, is pushed down to number 11 here.

The bowling also has variety, with two quicks in Neesham and Jordan, two off-spinners in Hooda and Gowtham, a left-arm spinner in Suchith and the usual part-time option of Maxwell.