IPL 2018: Performance Analysis of teams unable to make the playoffs

#3 Kings XI Punjab (12 points, 7th place)

A tale of two halves for KXIP

The good

Kings XI Punjab had a dream start to the season, winning five out of their first six matches, and looked set to become one of the first teams to cement a playoff berth.

Chris Gayle, who wasn't even expected to play by many, announced his arrival in IPL 2018 by scoring three half-centuries and a hundred in his first four matches.

KL Rahul started the season by scoring a 14-ball fifty- the fastest in IPL history- and built on the good form to show the world that he is a top-class T20 player.

Ravichandran Ashwin led the side admirably with his shrewd tactics and unpredictable moves, most of which worked well in the first half of the season.

The bad

The rest of the tournament after their sixth match. KXIP lost seven out of eight in a disastrous turnaround from a position where they were cruising through to the playoffs.

The overdependence on the openers was worsened by Gayle's loss of form and that translated into an overdependence on Rahul, as the middle order comprising of Aaron Finch, Yuvraj Singh, Mayank Agarwal and Marcus Stoinis failed to make an impact.

Karun Nair showed glimpses of his calibre, but wasn't consistent enough and inevitably, KXIP's batting innings suffered a free-fall every time Rahul was dismissed.

Axar Patel failed to justify his retention, and captain Ashwin had a mixed season with the ball: his overall economy was decent, but he only managed to pick up 10 wickets in 14 matches.

Star performers

Rahul had a phenomenal season with the bat

Rahul had an outstanding season and he ended among the top three run-scorers with 659 runs at an average of nearly 55.

Widely regarded as a part-time wicket-keeper, Rahul was safe behind the stumps and that is probably the reason why his keeping did not make the news.

Andrew Tye was fantastic with his variations and emerged as KXIP's go-to bowler under pressure. With 24 wickets including three four-wicket hauls, he deservedly owns the purple cap and is likely to take it home.

Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, the 17-year-old mystery spinner from Afghanistan, was a revelation in his debut IPL season, picking up 14 wickets as he foxed Kohli among others with his tricks.

The failing stars

Finch had a forgettable two months following his wedding, managing just 134 runs in 10 innings.

Marcus Stoinis, the marquee all-rounder of the team, could not repay the trust as he failed with both bat and ball and his failure hampered the team balance.

Yuvraj Singh looked out-of-sorts and this IPL may well turn out to be his last appearance in top-level cricket.

What they missed

Punjab often depended on individual performances

Team performances.

Kings XI relied too heavily on individual brilliance, as key players failed to contribute when the team needed them to.Rahul, Gayle, Tye and Ur-Rahman single-handedly won them games early on, but when more was needed from others, particularly after Mujeeb's injury, Rahul and Tye were left on their own.

They didn't have glaring weaknesses in the middle-order: Finch is a world-class batsman, Milller is among the finest T20 finishers, Stoinis is Australia's best all-rounder at the moment, Mayank Agarwal was fresh from a breakthrough domestic season, and then they had Yuvraj Singh.

Bowling-wise, Mohit Sharma was a former purple-cap winner and Axar Patel was KXIP's best player over the last four years.

Just that none of them could perform.

The future

One doesn't expect Yuvraj to hang around till next year, and sadly, it will mean a low-key end to the career of one of the greatest ever white-ball cricketers.

A tricky decision awaits regarding Gayle. Perhaps his international form for West Indies could serve as a good indicator.

At least one of Finch and Stoinis are expected to be released, given they were among the franchise's expensive buys at INR 6.2 crores each.

Ankit Rajpoot is the only Indian seamer who impressed, and KXIP will look for options to complement him.

Ashwin's captaincy was impressive and probably good enough to earn him another season at the helm.