IPL 2018: Journey of the Kings XI Punjab so far

Kings XI Punjab has witnessed loads of significant turns and one of the most intruding phases in their ten years of eventful journey in the Indian Premier League (IPL). They started their maiden campaign of the tournament under the leadership of India’s most iconic and stylish performers of all in the shortest format of the game, Yuvraj Singh, who was pretty excited to lead the banter for his hometown franchise in one of the most thrilling sporting contests of all. However, the franchise is yet to witness a successful run to lift the coveted IPL title of the competition. Their finest outings came in the 2014 edition of the tournament, where they reached the finals after a staggering run in the league stages of the season, but lost the final game to Kolkata Knight Riders.

Like the rest of franchises of the league, Kings XI have also backed certain set of specialist players in the shortest format, in whom they can invest for long-term prospects. While many of the greatest names of the game have also played a symbolic role in the betterment of the franchise. They maintained its high energetic intensity at the 2018 IPL auctions as well, where the owners and the support staff picked out a balanced and flexible unit for the upcoming season. But they are also yet to tick a major box in their tally, of choosing out a wise and trustworthy leader to captain the side in the eleventh edition of the tournament.

Here we look at the journey of Kings XI Punjab in the IPL so far:

1. 2008 – 2nd Position

The Kings XI named Yuvraj Singh as their icon player and skipper of the side for the inaugural edition while former Australian cricketer Tom Moody was appointed as the head coach. They did not have the best of the starts in the competition as they lost both of their first two games by heavy margins. However, they came back in a resounding style to register consecutive wins in the next five game of the season. Many of the overseas cricketers from across the globe emerged as the top performers for the Kings in the inaugural edition.

Squad: Yuvraj Singh (Captain), Mahela Jayawardene, Ajitesh Argal, Piyush Chawla, Pankaj Dharmani, Rishi Dhawan, Gagandeep Singh, Karan Goel, James Hopes, Simon Katich, Uday Kaul, Sahil Kukreja, Brett Lee, Shaun Marsh, Kyle Mills, Wilkin Mota, Irfan Pathan, Luke Pomersbach, Ramesh Powar, Nitin Saini, Kumar Sangakkara (Wicket-keeper), Ramnaresh Sarwan, Vikram Singh, Sunny Sohal, Sreesanth, Tanmay Srivastava

Matches Played – 15, W- 10, L – 5

TOP PERFORMER – Shaun Marsh

Stylish Australian batsman Shaun Marsh was the highest run-getter of the tournament and the topmost performer for the Kings, as he compiled 616 runs in 11 matches, for which he was also awarded the first of the coveted Orange Cap. Fast bowler Sreesanth was also pretty much impressed with the ball as he picked up 19 wickets. They finished on the third spot in the inaugural edition of the IPL, which was a result of a defiant contribution from the whole unit.