KXIP in IPL 2020: AN ENTERTAINING TALE WITH NO FAIRYTALE ENDING
The 2020 Indian Premier League has entered its last week and what a finish it has turned out to be. At the halfway point in the tournament, the teams to progress through to the playoffs looked an almost foregone conclusion.
However, in the second half, the teams in the lower half began to make a mark and disturb the apple cart at the top. At the forefront of this push-up were the Kings XI Punjab.
After seven matches, the KL Rahul-led side found themselves at the last position on the table. Betting sites like Betwinner had deemed it almost certain that the team would not make it to the playoffs with a mere two points beside their name.
Entering into their eighth game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, they made one crucial change- bringing in Chris Gayle in the playing XI and what an impact he had on that day and for the rest of the tournament for the franchise. The southpaw made 288 runs in seven matches at a strike-rate of 137.14.
That gave support to the most prolific batsman of the tournament. Rahul may have had the extra responsibility to undertake, but it did not feel like a burden on him as a batsman as he accumulated 670 runs in 14 matches. The right-hander’s strike-rate may have come under the scrutiny at the end of the competition, but he was a picture of consistency for the franchise, this season.
But, barring these two, none of the other players in the franchise could raise their game in the second half of the competition. That, coupled with comical defeats in a few of the matches, proved to be KXIP’s downfall.
Heading into next year, hence, their priority should be to pick substance over style. Glenn Maxwell has been part of many IPL teams, but has tasted most success with KXIP.
Returning to the franchise this year, Maxwell had huge expectations on him to deliver, but he failed and how. Not only had the runs dried up, but also he failed to hit a single six during the tournament. For some it was not surprising to see him not do well, but no one would have thought of the numbers to be this low for him.
For KXIP, at the auction next year, an option could be to drop Maxwell and go for a player like Moeen Ali, who could be flexible with the bat, batting either as an opener or in the middle-order and give four overs of off-spin, in the powerplay and in the middle-overs if needed.
Their bowling also proved to be a mixed bag. The leg-spinners- M Ashwin and Ravi Bishnoi- proved to be impressive albeit inconsistently. The quick men, except Mohammad Shami, were all over the place and that did not help KXIP’s cause.
But above all, KXIP gave great entertainment to everyone throughout the tournament. They featured in two super overs, the second of which could well be the greatest IPL match of all time.
Next year, though, they will want to be known as a team that fulfills its capabilities and not just be known for giving entertainment for all.