Even after finishing at the bottom of the table at the 6th spot, KXIP will go for the same duo of captain and coach KL Rahul and Anil Kumble for the next year’s IPL. The next grand event which is scheduled in no less than six months will have KXIP with the same coach and captain as the owners want them to carry the team forward next year as well. This was the first time Rahul had captained this side and it was an individual great performance from him as he scored 670 at an average of 55.83 runs per match. A team can possibly be built around these strong set of players as this was the first season as a coach for Anil Kumble with the Punjab side.
The core and strong group of players include the likes of Gayle, Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Nicholas Pooran, Mayank Agarwal. With a bit of young blood in the team, they look fine with Ravi Bishnoi and Arshdeep Singh.
The issue that has to be taken seriously is the bowling department and the middle order batting strength. This has been the weakness of the Punjab side from past a few seasons.
With a good comeback in the second half of the IPL, the owners are quite happy with the performance of Rahul and the management. The team could have been in the playoffs if the short run wouldn’t have been called against the Capitals.
The source of information being carried around also states that KXIP has identified the core players and will work on to get another fast bowler to support Shami and will fill their middle order with promising batsmen.
The Punjab side had won 5 consecutive games in the second half of the IPL but due to the inconsistency in the first half where they lost 6 out of their 7 games did the damage. They were not able to defeat the men in yellow CSK in the final league where they were knocked out of the competition.
The money spent on Maxwell (10.75 CR) and Cotrell (8.5 CR) has not given any benefit to the KXIP franchise as they were not in good taste in the entire IPL season and did nothing special to take KXIP to the playoffs at least.
Another source within the KXIP management has reported that it will tough to plan ahead with them and as a result, they might be released because they have not stood up to the expectations.
The decision solely depends on the review meeting and also the mega auction that will be held in a couple of months.
KXIP will look to solidify their middle order and death bowling in any case of the auction or the mega auction.