2009 Record: Fifth     2008 Record: Semi-Finalist

Squad: Kumar Sangakkara (captain & wicket-keeper), Yusuf Abdulla, Love Ablish, Adrian Barath, Manvinder Bisla, Ravi Bopara, Piyush Chawla, Karan Goel, James Hopes, Mahela Jayawardene, Mohammad Kaif, Brett Lee, Vikramjeet Malik, Shaun Marsh, Irfan Pathan, Ramesh Powar, Bipul Sharma, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Amanpreet Singh, Yuvraj Singh, S. Sreesanth, Shalabh Srivastava, Tanmay Srivastava.

Strengths & Weaknesses:

One of the biggest debating points for the team was the captaincy of Yuvraj Singh. Amongst the eight franchises, probably this was the only team wherein the skipper wasn’t actually in the scheme of things to lead his county. Seen from a different point of view, that is a weakness for captaincy is an art just like batting or bowling, and you need to practice that a bit as well.

This year Kumar Sangakkara takes over the reigns making it the fifth team in the fray to have a foreign player as captain. For the point discussed above, this is a very good thing. They will have some one with experience in T20 cricket as to how to lead the troops on the field when push comes to shove.

Also as compared to the last season, when they had to make do for long without their foreign players, this time quite a few of them will be available plus injury concerns seem not to be an issue either. A full squad for a competition this long is always desirable and the owners’ prayers seem to have been answered for once.

They haven’t made any big purchases in the off-season but a low key one – that of Mohammad Kaif and he alone is the reason for cheer. As a T20 player, Kaif won’t find many takers but the players who know him will tell that he is a complete player. One feels that Rajasthan Royals made a mistake letting him go in South Africa last year just as they have done this year and their loss will be Punjab’s gain. He will play the anchor role in the middle order which is fast becoming increasingly important in T20 cricket as well and will allow the batsmen around him to play shots at will. His inclusion will also mean that the combination of four foreign players to be chosen can be tinkered around with as per the requirements. Any team that affords this sort of balance is a fantastic prospect.

Note: This is an extract from the Kings XI Punjab preview first published at www.cricketworld.com. To read the full article, click here.