IPL 2021: Strongest and weakest capped player of all teams

2. PBKS: Strongest – KL Rahul, Weakest – Mandeep Singh

With a mini revamp both in their organizational name and in their playing personnel, the Punjab Kings will once again start their IPL campaign with some fresh faces. Last year, the team went through a roller-coaster ride wherein the second half of the IPL, the franchise almost made themselves definite for a potential playoffs spot. Under the leadership of KL Rahul, the side was apparently seen playing some fearless cricket towards the rear end of the season.

By leading his team so dynamically, undoubtedly skipper KL Rahul is also the strongest capped player of this franchise. Despite having some sturdy names like Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran from the Global T20 circuit, KL Rahul tops the chart. By winning the orange cap in IPL 2020, Rahul notched a total of 670 runs at a robust average of almost 56. The tally of runs also includes five fifties and a blistering hundred coming from his scorching blade. Once again in the nearing season, he is bound to serve as a vital cog of his team.

But in terms of their weakest capped player, Mandeep Singh’s lower-order batting looks like an underlying problem. Last year, KXIP’s lower batting order did look in the doldrums, Mandeep was then infused into the playing XI for seven matches. With his reasonable experience, the local boy was expected to play some canny cameos along with being reliable towards the rear end, but in reality, the right-hander could only power the ball at an overall strike rate of 119.26. All in all, in his seven games, Mandeep could only amass a total of 130 runs including 10 fours and 4 sixes. For the forthcoming season, yet again the PBKS doesn’t have some exquisite choices for its lower-order batting and it will be interesting to see how this local boy accommodates himself again in the lower middle-order batting.