One thing each IPL franchise lacks in their team

#3 Kings XI Punjab – Middle Order

The Mohali-based outfit was heavily dependant on KL Rahul

Kings XI Punjab started the previous season with a bang by winning the first few games in a dominant fashion.

KL Rahul’s swashbuckling 50 in the opening game versus Delhi Daredevils at Mohali set the stage on fire. In another game against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Chris Gayle showed his heroics by scoring a blistering century and everyone expected this team to cruise through to the playoffs.

But as the tournament went on, their performances dipped drastically and they fell apart. They even registered the lowest team score of the season against Royal Challengers Bangalore in a crucial encounter in Indore and this dented the Net run rate very badly.

In the end, they ended up at seventh place with six wins and eight losses out of 14 games just above Delhi Daredevils. The main reason for their disappointing season is over dependency on KL Rahul and the lack of a proper middle order.

Yuvraj Singh was kept out for more than half of the season, Karun Nair had few good knocks here and there but never managed to put in consistent performances throughout the season.

Axar Patel and Marcus Stoinis showed few sparks in a couple of innings but the burden was too much on them.

Hence, the owners and management should need to look for some strength in the middle order and with a solid middle order in the line-up, Kings XI should do well with their batting in the upcoming season.