IPL 2019: Lack of faith in their players the main reason for KXIP's unsuccessful campaign
Kings XI Punjab have been one of the least successful teams in the Indian Premier League. This season was no different for them; despite promising a lot in the first half of IPL 2019, they finished 6th on the points table.
The team management has been guilty of making too many changes to the side, which didn't help their cause this season.
Over the years, Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians have been the most consistent teams in the competition. Showing faith in their players and a relatively stable playing XI have been the reasons for their prolonged success.
Kings XI Punjab bought Varun Chakravarthy for a whopping 8.4 crore in the auction. However, the mystery spinner ended up playing only one game in the entire season, against Kolkata Knight Riders on a batting friendly surface. The Tamil Nadu Premier League sensation was taken apart by Sunil Narine in the first over but he made a strong comeback and ended the match with figures of 1-35 in 3 overs.
Sam Curran faced similar consequences as he was not given a consistent go throughout the season despite his match winning performance against Delhi Capitals. In his comeback game against KKR, the English all-rounder single-handedly bailed Punjab out of trouble with a half century.
Curran also took 3 wickets in his final match against the Chennai Super Kings, a game which Kings XI won comfortably. If he had played throughout the season, things could have been different for Kings XI Punjab.
Sarfaraz Khan was no exception to KXIP's trigger-happy ways as he too was dropped from the side after scoring 67 against Chennai Super Kings on a sluggish wicket.
The IPL is undoubtedly the biggest extravaganza of T20 cricket, and in such a high-profile tournament it can take players 2-3 matches to get used to the environment. Constant changes in a side not only affects a player's morale but also the team's performance.
Kings XI Punjab's fortunes could have been better if they had taken a leaf out of CSK's book and backed their players instead of making changes in nearly every match.