IPL 2020 Review: Kings XI Punjab
For Kings XI Punjab, it was a season of three phases: the one with Chris Gayle, the one without Chris Gayle, and the last two games.
With the team being coached by Anil Kumble and captained by KL Rahul, fans had their hopes set on the franchise. Many felt that the team would have a dominant run in the UAE.
The campaign began with a super-over defeat to Delhi Capitals and surprisingly, followed by a fine display against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
KL Rahul's contentious hundred blunted any hopes of an RCB win. Till this point, Gayle's abscence from the line-up wasn't prominent. However, few could have foreseen what would unfold next.
Five back-to-back defeats pushed Kings XI Punjab to the bottom of the table.
They sat with only one win from their first seven games. In this process, they found a way to lose even the easiest of wins.
Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul almost led the team to victory only to crumble from 149/2 to 162/5, losing the game.
In the process, a ten-wicket defeat to CSK made everyone question KL Rahul's captaincy. Even in the games against Hyderabad and Mumbai, KL Rahul was looking for clues and seemed utterly gutted with the performance.
Click here to see IPL 2020 points table.
A campaign that started with a promising note seemed to have lost direction mid-way. Amid the frustration, Kings XI Punjab needed someone to stand for them and it seemed fate had the Jamaican superstar, Chris Gayle in lined up.
The self-proclaimed 'Universe Boss' made his first appearance against Bangalore. He initiated Punjab's resurgence in IPL 2020.
Whether it was Gayle's charm, strike rate, or his mere presence something clicked for Punjab with Gayle's inclusion at number 3.
Kings XI Punjab was on a roll, winning five back-to-back matches, a feat barely anyone could've foreseen midway through the tournament. While the season without Gayle was essentially a tale of 'near-misses', fate had other plans and Gayle went back into the mix.
Punjab found a way to win games, which were lost at midstage. The game against Hyderabad was one such instance, Hyderabad trailed after Kings XI Punjab for nearly 34 overs, only to shoot themselves in the feet in the last six and go down by 12 runs.
Sun Risers Hyderabad crumbled from 100 for three to be dismissed for just 114, failing to score 126.
In the game against the most successful IPL team in history, Mumbai Indians, Punjab held on a double-super over to win, perhaps, the best game of the tournament till date. It also showed Kings XI Punjab's willingness to fight and stay alive in the competition.
Their last victory (on this run) was against the Knight Riders. It was perhaps Kings XI Punjab's best game of the season. Backed by an impressive opening spell by Mohammed Shami, Punjab controlled the game from start to finish. However, their fairytale comeback in this season was about to end.
With two games to go, Kings XI Punjab seemed to have peaked at the right time. Two more wins, with their net run-rate, would've assured not just a top-four finish, but a top two. However, destiny perhaps was not in KL Rahul's court.
A commanding 185 against Rajasthan, backed by Chris Gayle's 99, seemed to have cemented their chance of a win. However, they turned bitter as Rajasthan decimated the Kings XI Punjab bowlers only to snatch a dominant win.
The final game against already-relegated Chennai was perhaps the perfect opportunity for Kings XI Punjab to rejuvenate a season that started so poorly, but they failed again. Kings XI Punjab's batting lacked luster.
No one apart from Deepak Hooda performed. Defending 152, the bowlers meekly conceded the fight, perhaps a fair reflection of how Kings XI played most of the season.
For Punjab, the only positive take aways from the season would be KL Rahul's batting form. The Bangalorean ended the group stages as the leading run-scorer in the competition. Mohammed Shami produced powerful spells in the tournament, even with the lack support from the other end.
Despite Punjab's resurrection in the second half of the season, they still fell short of expectations.