IPL 2020: SWOT Analysis of Kings XI Punjab
Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) come into the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2020) after having made a series of changes to their squad.
KL Rahul has taken over as captain, with his predecessor Ravichandran Ashwin shipped to the Delhi Capitals. Sheldon Cottrell, Jimmy Neesham and Chris Jordan are all new faces in the side, with Glenn Maxwell making a return to the KXIP setup after a short stint in Delhi.
KXIP don't go into IPL 2020 as favourites by any stretch of the imagination, and various experts and former cricketers have claimed that they are contenders for the wooden spoon. However, led by a young captain in Rahul, the Mohali-based franchise cannot be ruled out.
In this article, we carefully analyse the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of the KXIP squad ahead of IPL 2020.
KXIP in IPL 2020: Strengths
#1 KXIP have a settled, dangerous opening combination
KXIP have one of the best opening combinations in IPL 2020 - Chris Gayle and KL Rahul.
The duo, who played together at RCB, complement each other perfectly and get along very well. While Rahul has shown that he can switch gears at any point in the innings, Gayle is coming off a superb IPL 2019 season in which he showed that he still has a lot of cricket left in him.
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Rahul and Gayle might cause opposition bowlers a number of headaches in the powerplay overs.
#2 KXIP have a number of capable batsmen in the middle order
Following Rahul and Gayle are a series of capable middle-order batsmen, making the KXIP batting lineup a formidable one to say the least.
Mayank Agarwal, who would definitely prefer to open given his success in the role for the Indian Test team, is expected to come in at No. 3. After him, the likes of Mandeep Singh, Karun Nair, Glenn Maxwell, Nicholas Pooran and Sarfaraz Khan are options to take up roles in the middle order.
The West Indian was the only batsman to score a hundred in the recently concluded Caribbean Premier League, while Maxwell has shown signs of form while playing for Australia against England.
#3 KXIP have built their team around their captain
Another notable feature of this KXIP squad is the number of Karnataka players in it, and this is largely due to captain KL Rahul and coach Anil Kumble calling the shots.
KXIP have chosen to surround Rahul with a number of players that he is familiar with, including even Gayle, and this will make his job as the skipper much easier. Much like MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings and Gautam Gambhir's Kolkata Knight Riders, a core that is familiar to the captain will greatly help KXIP.