IPL 2019: Kings XI Punjab's expected signings at the Player Auction

The IPL 2018 season turned out to be yet another disappointment for the Kings XI Punjab who failed to ride on the successful start they got. After five wins in six matches, the Ravichandran Ashwin-led team managed to win only one in the next eight including five defeats in a row to crash out of the tournament. The franchise has revamped their coaching staff ahead of the 2018 edition and roped in New Zealander Mike Hesson hoping for a change in fortunes.

In this process, the new management has decided to release a bulk of the players and retained only a set of players who contributed in the previous edition. This will help Kings XI try out new talents coming out of the domestic circuit and also overseas. KXIP have the highest purse among all the teams with INR 36.2 crores in the bank. They have 15 slots to fill during the upcoming auction including a maximum of four foreigners.

Here we look at the players Kings XI Punjab could go for at the auction:

Indian players:

The Indian players in the list announced by Kings XI Punjab perfectly fit the combination and the purse they are left with. They have a chance of trying some of the Indian players who could earn big bids. All-rounder Shivam Dube has been making rounds in the domestic circuit while Jaydev Unadkat will easily fetch a six-crore bid despite a poor last season with Rajasthan Royals.

KXIP might even want to sign Wriddhiman Saha to reduce the workload on KL Rahul who will be opening the innings. They are expected to also pursue Axar Patel who has been with them since the 2014 edition. He was their only retention ahead of the big auction for the 2018 season. However, Axar couldn’t make significant contributions towards the team and was eventually released from the squad.

Overseas:

Two overseas players are in the 11-man list announced by the KXIP whom they would be aiming at the auction. The two players’ names they revealed are former New Zealand player Brendon McCullum and the new batting sensation Shimron Hetmyer. The other two overseas players they could aim are the latest T20 stars from Afghanistan – Hazratullah Zazai and Sayed Shirzad.

Zazai attended the trails hosted by Kings XI Punjab prior to the start of the T10 league. The opening batsman piled on runs with his attacking approach in the Afghanistan Premier League as well as T10. Shirzad, on the other hand, has troubled some big names in those tournaments with his slower deliveries and cutters at the death. The left-arm pacer has all the variations of a proper T20 bowler.

Here is CricTracker’s interview with a promising wicketkeeper-batsman Arun Karthik:

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