IPL 2019: 5 Players who Kings XI Punjab might release after this season.
Kings XI Punjab endured another unsatisfying IPL campaign as they finished 6th after being in a good position to qualify for the playoffs after the first 10 games. The lack of composure in bowling in death overs and lack of winning contributions from their middle order was the main reason for yet another slump for the team.
Skipper Ravichandran Ashwin's run-out incident incited a lot of controversies but Punjab marched merrily in the opening stages of the tournament winning games with ease. The downfall, however, started when Ashwin began rotating the players based on venue and not on performance and this rotation policy combined with wrong selection and bids at the auction started taking their toll.
They could win only 2 out of their last 8 games and gathered just 12 points losing out to SRH by virtue of their negative Net Run Rate.
They have a lot to tinker with and think about ahead of the next season and with the side known to make widespread changes to the team, expect no different this time around.
On that note, let's take a look at 5 players who Kings XI Punjab could release before the next season.
#5 Ankit Rajpoot
Ankit Rajpoot emerged as a real match-winner for Punjab last season as he handled the new ball really well and picked up 11 wickets including a stunning 5-wicket haul against Delhi. That was the very reason why Punjab retained him for IPL 2019 but the seamer failed to carry on the momentum as he had a horrid time in IPL 2019.
Ashwin's constant rotation meant that Rajpoot could never get settled but even if he did, he wasn't able to perform well. Rajpoot picked up just 3 wickets from 4 matches at a poor economy rate of 9.50 and gave away a lot of runs in the death overs which cost Punjab dearly as the qualification scenario shows.
With many younger and more exciting talents available, it's unlikely that he will be retained for their next campaign.
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