IPL AUCTION 2019 Strategy: Kings XI Punjab

Kings XI Punjab have again dismantled their squad before an auction, a trend associated with them over the past few auctions. KXIP have failed to make it to the knockout rounds after their trip to the finals of the 2014 IPL season.

Last season, they started off brightly winning five of their first six matches before losing steam to finish in the seventh position after being able to win just one match out of the remaining eight matches.

This season, they look to change the tide and hence under the captaincy of Ravichandran Ashwin, they are looking to rebuild their team by adding some more players to the core that they have retained before the auction.

Here are a few areas they can strengthen in the auction to mount a title challenge in IPL 2019.

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#1 All-rounder

The release of Axar Patel and the trade of Marcus Stoinis to Royal Challengers Bangalore in exchange for Mandeep Singh has left Kings XI Punjab with no premier all-rounder in their ranks.

In this format of the game where an all-rounder is worth his weight in gold, Kings XI Punjab have let go of two of the most consistent all-round performers in the IPL but they can only let bygones be bygones and focus on the all-rounders who are available in the auction.

English all-rounder Sam Curran is coming off a great couple of series against India and Sri Lanka where he tormented both the Asian sides with his pace bowling and explosive hitting. In T20s this year Curran has scored 125 runs in seven innings at a strike rate of 148 and captured eight wickets in 10 innings at an economy rate of 7.54.

West Indian Fabian Allen is coming off a strong CPL campaign where he displayed his explosive batting abilities in full swing, his exploits in the CPL earned him a spot in the West Indies national team. In 2018, Allen has scored 146 runs in five innings at an average of 48 and a mind-boggling strike rate of 178, he has also taken five wickets in eight matches.

New Zealander Corey Anderson has had a great season with the bat scoring 622 runs in 22 innings at a healthy average of 34.55 and an explosive strike rate of 159.07.

Mumbai lad Shivam Dubey has been turning heads this year with his performance in the domestic circuit scoring at a strike rate of 146 in 13 T20s and also capturing 10 wickets at the same time.

#2 Fast Bowlers:

Lockie

Ferguson

In a roster now trimmed down to just 10 players, Kings XI Punjab have retained just two of their five frontline pace bowlers from last season. 2018 IPL purple cap winner Andrew Tye and Indian right-arm medium pacer Ankit Rajpoot are the two fast bowlers in the current pre-auction squad.

Pace bowlers have the unforgiving task of bowling upfront in the powerplay overs and then returning back to complete their spell in the death overs. Hence, fast bowlers play a very important role for their team and having a quality pace bowler in your ranks is a morale-booster for the captain as well as for the whole team.

With ample spots available for both domestic and international players, KXIP have an abundance of choices to pick from a quality filled pool of pace bowlers.

Mohammed Shami and Jaydev Unadkat are stalwarts of the IPL, having played over five seasons in the league and have tons of experience under their belt and are one of the most consistent players in the league.

South African fast bowling great Dale Steyn has been on fire in the inaugural MSL where he has bagged 11 wickets in eight matches at a miserly economy of 6.47.

New Zealand quick Lockie Ferguson has had a great 2018 season where he captured 18 wickets in 15 matches at an economy rate of 6.69 and he could be one option KXIP might look at.