Kings XI Punjab, one of the eight original franchises of the Indian Premier League (IPL), has changed its name. From the 14th edition of the league, starting in the second week of April, the team will call itself as Punjab Kings. A formal communication has been made to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and an approval is understood to have also been obtained. No owner or an official of the franchise would say the reason behind the planned transformation but the KXIP officials, however, confirmed about the name change as per a Cricbuzz report.
In fact, the franchise is planning a grand 're-launch' in a couple of days in Mumbai, ahead of the February 18 auction. It will turn up at the auction in Chennai as Punjab Kings. In fact, the BCCI, in a recent internal communication to the teams, addressed the Mohali side as Punjab Kings. The franchise, owned by Mohit Burman, Ness Wadia, Preity Zinta and Karan Paul, has been one of the underperforming teams in the IPL, with only one third place finish and one runners-up position in the 13 years of league history. Going into the IPL 2021 auction, KXIP have a purse of Rs 53.2 crore. The franchise added big amount to the purse by releasing Glenn Maxwell (10.75 crore) and Sheldon Cottrell (8.5 crore). They also released Karun Nair, Jagadeesha Suchith, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, James Neesham, Krishnappa Gowtham and Tajinder Singh.
