‘Imagine if we had those players": Kings XI Punjab regrets releasing 3 players to other teams

KL Rahul's Kings XI Punjab  finished sixth at the points table in IPL 2020 with 12 points in their ...

By Lokmat English Desk | Published: November 20, 2020 12:42 PM2020-11-20T12:42:13+5:302020-11-20T12:44:55+5:30

‘Imagine if we had those players": Kings XI Punjab regrets releasing 3 players to other teams | ‘Imagine if we had those players": Kings XI Punjab regrets releasing 3 players to other teams

‘Imagine if we had those players": Kings XI Punjab regrets releasing 3 players to other teams

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KL Rahul's Kings XI Punjab  finished sixth at the points table in IPL 2020 with 12 points in their bag from 14 fixtures. Sheldon Cottrell, Glenn Maxwell, failed to justify their hefty pay-checks while few others failed to get a single pay due to various team combinations. However, Kings XI Punjab co-owner Ness Wadia was impressed with the performance of youngsters like Ravi Bishnoi and Arshdeep Singh. Ness also rued letting go of exciting talents who shone in the 13th edition of the tournament for other franchises. KXIP had the services of T Natarajan (now SRH) and Varun Chakravarthy (KKR) in the past but they let them go. Wadia took their names also hoped they had stuck with Sam Curran, who proved to one of the best all-round performers in what turned out to be CSK’s worst-ever season.“Imagine if we had those players, Sam Curran (CSK) also but again it is all in hindsight. Each coach who comes in has a thought process and a manner in conducting himself like any other CEO of a company. “One has to allow them time to settle, provide stability and allow them to make mistakes and learn from them and take the team forward,” said Wadia. 

Punjab lost six out of their first seven games before winning five in a row to storm back into play-off contention. The Rahul-led side needed to win its last league game against Chennai Super Kings to reach the top-four but it couldn’t. Wadia said the umpiring error to call a short-run when it wasn’t, cost the team a play-off berth though it did not show the required consistency in the first year under captain and coach combine of Rahul and Kumble. “It is a new captain, new team with a lot of fresh faces, sometimes it clicks and sometimes it doesn’t. The auction is coming up soon and we would be looking to plug the gaps in the middle-order and our bowling,” said Wadia. He also made it clear that hurt Kings XI has decided to work on a three-year plan under Anil Kumble and KL Rahul to take the side forward. He also said that Chris Gayle, who was surprisingly not picked in the first half of the tournament, had done enough to be playing from game one next season. On the speculation surrounding a ninth team for the next season, Wadia said it showed the ever-increasing interest in the world's biggest T20 league and he would welcome the addition as long as it doesn't hit existing teams financially.

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