All-time best XI of Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in IPL

Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) have never been short of talented cricketers but they have mostly failed to live up to the expectations, never winning the IPL title. The team is based in Mohali and is owned by a consortium of Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia, Mohit Burman and Karan Paul. They play a majority of their home matches at the IS Bindra PCA Stadium in Mohali with a few games in Dharamshala and Indore.

Unlike Delhi Capitals, Kings XI Punjab have actually reached an IPL final. They were table toppers after the group stage matches in 2014 but lost to Kolkata Knight Riders when it mattered the most. KXIP hold the unwanted record of having made the playoffs only 2 times. Yuvraj Singh was chosen as their icon player and captain for the inaugural season of the IPL and he led them a second-place finish in the league stage.

The Kings XI Punjab’s catchment areas are Kashmir, Jammu, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana which is evident from the letter sequence “K J H P H” in the banner of the team’s logo. From Paul Valthaty to Parvinder Awana, they have given a platform for a lot of uncapped players and they haven’t disappointed. Perhaps due to the lack of success, even legends of the outfit such as Shaun Marsh, who finished as the Orange Cap winner in the first IPL season, haven’t gotten the respect they deserved.

Here we take a look at KXIP’s all-time greatest XI:

1. KL Rahul

KL Rahul joined Kings XI Punjab in 2018. He previously played for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad. Despite scoring a good amount of runs for RCB in 2016, they decided to let him go. In 2018, KL Rahul joined KXIP for 11 crore. KL Rahul was one of the revelations of the IPL 2018 as he scored 659 runs at an average of 54.91 and at a quick strike-rate of 158.41.

He had a very good outing in the following year as well as the Karnataka boy aggregated 593 runs which included an unbeaten 100- his best score in the IPL so far. Following Ravi Ashwin’s departure, the top-order batsman was named as the new captain for the franchise ahead of the 2020 IPL season. Overall, he has scored 1,977 runs in his IPL career at a solid average of 42.06 and a strike rate of 138.15.

Together with Chris Gayle, Rahul has formed a potent opening combination that took the attack to the opposition and he enjoyed the freedom given to him at the top of the batting order. Rahul has become KXIP’s highest Indian run scorer in just two years with the team. He also takes the additional responsibility of keeping wickets.