IPL 2018: Kings XI Punjab eye at changing the team's name

The Kings XI Punjab franchise went on a shopping spree in the auction held on the 27th and 28th Jan 2018. The team’s co-owner, Preity Zinta went on to raise the paddle for every possible player in the auction. KXIP seem to have a settled team at the moment and will be looking forward to doing well in the IPL.

They’ve got some big names like KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Marcus Stoinis at some reasonable prices. They also bagged Indian veteran all-rounder Yuvraj Singh at his base price for Rs 2 crores. Punjab management looked very happy after the auction and Preity Zinta expressed her excitement on Twitter.

Plans for changing the name of the franchise?

Kings XI Punjab are yet to taste success in the IPL. Their best performance came in 2014 when they managed to reach the finals. Since then, they never managed to make it to the playoffs. However, they would hope to get there this season with a revamped side.

Also, KXIP received their second abode this season apart from Mohali in the form of Holkar Stadium in Indore. They will be seen playing four of their home games in Mohali. The remainder of the home games will be played in Indore. This is not the first time they will be playing their home games in two different venues. They played a few of their home games in Dharamshala earlier.

Apart from the host of changes in terms of venue and squads, KXIP has also sought for a name change ahead of IPL. In the last season, the Rising Pune Supergiants amended their name as Rising Pune Supergiant. They removed the ‘s’ in the end hoping it could change their fortunes. It somehow miraculously did the job for them as the reached the finals of the tournament. They finished second last on the table in their first season.

Although this might be a new concept in India, it is widely followed in The United States of America (USA). The NBA and Baseball league teams often change their names when they change base. Preity Zinta pointed out towards the same concept and hence placed the request for name change said a BCCI official as mentioned on Hindustan Times.

It would be very interesting to see what the new name could be. If approved by the BCCI, the franchise will put the new name forward soon. Also, it would be interesting to see if it could change the teams’ fortunes.

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