IPL 2022: Punjab Kings are the kings of messing up
A name change had little effect on the company’s fortunes or the nature of its underperformance. For years, the problems that have plagued Kings XI Punjab or Punjab Kings have been the same – an imbalanced squad, strange team selection, blatant inconsistency, and a proclivity for freezing in close finishes. They’re so bad that they could serve as a model for how not to run a franchise.
The Past
Year after year, they’ve concocted ways to create unbalanced teams. They are usually a mix of high-profile cricketers and domestic cricket newcomers. There would be an abundance of resources in one department and a complete lack of resources in the other. For example, they had three good openers in the last edition — KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, and Chris Gayle — but limited bowling depth.
Murugan Ashwin was their second-best spinner, and Chris Jordan and Mohammed Shami shared the new ball. They only possessed one reputed all-rounder, the extremely unpredictable James Neesham. Few teams have undergone as many complete makeovers as Punjab, yet no club has appeared to be closer to unlocking the IPL code than them. They have only won 39% of their games since reaching the final in 2014, their best performance to date.
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They have batting prowess but no bowling arsenal, as is in their lineage. Jonny Bairstow and Liam Livingstone, two of the most feared batsmen in international cricket, are joined by a retooled Shikhar Dhawan and an eager Mayank Agarwal in the top five. Shah Rukh Khan, the all-rounder for Tamil Nadu, is also a formidable batsman. Julian Wood, a hard-hitting coach, would boost them even more.
On paper, bowling is not just thin, but skeletal, with only Kagiso Rabada as a notable name. Odean Smith, Arshdeep Singh, Rahul Chahar, and Harpreet Brar, all untested, would share his duty. For the umpteenth time in the competition, they could be doomed by a lack of bowling depth.
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Where do we go from here
They’ve always lacked a motivating leader, and the fact that they keep changing captains hasn’t helped them. Mayank Agarwal, the most recent in the line and the franchise’s 13th leader in 14 seasons, has inherited the throne. He has minimal domestic expertise and will most likely have to learn on the job. He faces a difficult assignment in guiding them into the knockout stages, but it would be a small victory if they finished higher than they did the previous two years (sixth out of eight teams).