Kings XI Punjab season review: Almost there, but not quite
Kings XI Punjab, who were knocked out of IPL 2020 following their nine-wicket thrashing at the hands of Chennai Super Kings, can look back at their topsy-turvy journey from two different angles. One view is that they lost a great opportunity to progress considering they had one of the most dynamic teams in this year's IPL.
Alternately, it can be opined that Kings XI Punjab saved themselves from massive embarrassment because of the manner in which they fought back after a horrendous first half. Either which way, it was a fascinating ride as far as fans were concerned. With Kings XI Punjab failing to earn a top-four finish, we look back at things they got wrong, and a few things they got right.
Bringing Chris Gayle into the mix too late in the tournament
This was a massive blunder on Kings XI Punjab’s part that had serious repercussions on their progress. Chris Gayle only featured in seven of Punjab’s 14 games, and yet amassed 288 runs with three fifties at an excellent strike rate of 137.14 even on the slow and low surfaces in the UAE. One can only imagine what havoc the Universe Boss could have caused had he played a few more games.
While there is no point crying over spilt milk, the fact that Kings XI Punjab won five of the seven games Gayle featured in cannot be ignored.
The left-hander’s contribution in the same was enormous. He began with a ruthless fifty against his old franchise RCB, smashed 51 from 29 with five sixes against KKR and narrowly missed out on a hundred against the Rajasthan Royals, smashing 99 runs off 63 balls.
Even at 41, Gayle proved that he was fit enough to compete against the best in the world. Making him warm the benches for most of the season came back to bite Punjab in the end.
Glenn Maxwell’s horror show
What a turnaround in fortunes it was for Glenn Maxwell, from the high of 2014 in the UAE to the ultimate low in 2020. Since Maxwell played in all but one of KXIP’s 14 games, the franchise were literally one batsman short throughout the tournament.
After all, 108 runs at a strike rate of just over 100 was not what the Kings XI Punjab management expected when they paid a whopping Rs 10.75 crore for Maxwell at the auction. He was surprisingly effective with the ball, but that cannot make up for the player's batting performances during the tournament.
Maxwell’s shot selection during the tournament was questionable as he kept getting out to ungainly strokes. The attacking batsman, who went into IPL 2020 on a high following some incredible hitting against England in the previous series, failed to make his mark in the tournament.
Losing too many close encounters in the first half of the tournament
Kings XI Punjab’s journey in IPL 2020 began with a nerve-wracking Super Over loss to Delhi Capitals. It went on to define Punjab’s effort in IPL 2020 - so excruciatingly close, yet so far.
KXIP fought back with a spectacular win against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, as their skipper KL Rahul caressed an unbeaten 132 from 69 balls, slamming seven sixes. It was the kind of effort that should have lifted KXIP’s morale. Instead, their progress, rather inexplicably, went on a downward spiral.
Rahul Tewatia’s five sixes in the Sheldon Cottrell over not only saw Rajasthan chasing down a record total, but it also scarred the team's psyche. Kings XI Punjab were thrashed by Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad, and went down to KKR after having the match completely in their grasp.
This phase of the tournament came back to haunt Kings XI Punjab at the end. Although Rahul (670 runs), Mayank Agarwal (424 runs), Nicholas Pooran (353 runs at a strike rate of 169.71) and Mohammed Shami (20 wickets) all contributed handsomely, as a team, Kings XI Punjab just could not put it together.
Ravi Bishnoi comes of age
At just 20, fresh from his success at the U-19 World Cup, Ravi Bishnoi bowled with a maturity defied his age. Although the leggie went into the tournament as one of the youngsters to watch out for, no one expected him to come up with the kind of excellent spells that he delivered.
Bishnoi finished IPL 2020 with 12 wickets at a strike rate of 25.50 and an economy of 7.37. The spinner displayed the courage to toss up the ball to some dangerous batsmen and was rewarded for the same.
Bishnoi was so good that he soon became Kings XI Punjab’s lead spinner with the more-experienced Murugan Ashwin (10 wickets) playing the supporting role.
Also see:- IPL 2020 purple cap list.