IPL 2021: SWOT Analysis of Punjab Kings

Superstitions and human emotions go hand in hand. People tend to believe in such activities even though there might not be any logic behind such thinking. When IPL started in 2008, KKR’s brand colour was Black and Gold. At that time Shah Rukh Khan, the superstar owner of the team declared that black signifies Maa Kali (a Hindu deity) and though black signifies negativity, he believed his team being based out of Kolkata should have the brand colour as black since it signified Maa Kali. Unfortunately, the team did not do well in the first 3 seasons and he changed the brand colour to purple and with the change of colour came the change of fortunes because KKR went on to win the IPL twice in the next 4 years. It’s a different matter that the team is yet to reach the finals in the last 6 editions.

Many other IPL teams also changed their brand colours and some changed their names too. This time, Kings XI Punjab has decided to follow the same route and have rechristened themselves as Punjab Kings. Will this bring about a change in fortune for the team? Well, only time will prove that.

Last year the team didn’t start well losing a lot of matches on the trot, though their openers did brilliantly well. They did come back strongly towards the end after the induction of Chris Gayle in the playing XI but eventually finished 6th in the table. So how is it looking this time around?

Here is my best XI for the team this season:

KL Rahul

Mayank Agarwal

Dawid Malan

Nicholas Pooran

Mandeep Singh

Deepak Hooda

Chris Jordan

Jhye Richardson

Md. Shami

Arshdeep Singh

Ravi Bishnoi

SWOT Analysis:

Strength: Very strong top-order. Last season the partnership of Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul invariably gave the team good starts and I expect the same to continue this season too. Dawid Malan in number 3 and Nicholas Pooran in number 4 just bolster their batting lineup. These top 4 batsmen can pulverise any attack on a given day. Expect some heavy-duty hitting from this team in the powerplay overs. Their pace bowling resources are equally strong. Jhye Richardson with Md. Shami makes an eye-catching two-some first up. Chris Jordan is a known performer in the T20s and Arshdeep Singh did pretty well in the last season. Their bench strength looks good too with a lot of experienced players as backups like Chris Gayle, Moises Henriques, Fabian Allen etc. Players with IPL experience like Murugan Ashwin and Sarfaraz Khan are also there.

Weakness: They have a weak middle order with a longish tail. With no all-rounders as such in the team, it can get very dicey for the team on days when one or two of their bowlers end up having a bad day. In the middle order, there is a lack of experience and hence there will be too much pressure on the top 4. This can lead to a change in mindset and when the positive intent goes missing, runs dry up in T20. This is exactly what happened last season too with KL Rahul curbing his strokeplay which finally led to run rate pressure at the end. How they balance this out would be interesting to see.

Opportunity: India is facing big troubles in white-ball cricket with quality leg-spin bowling. One spot is definitely up for grabs and Ravi Bishnoi should eye that with a superlative performance this year. He did well last season too and I hope we will have a better version of him this year. Jhye Richardson would also like to establish his position in the Australian team by putting up a grand performance this IPL. He is a very good bowler and him along with Md. Shami could become a lethal pair this season for Punjab Kings.

Threat: This team’s biggest threat is its excessive dependence on uncapped spinners. Ravi Bishnoi is the main spinner with Murugan Ashwin as the backup. The tournament will be played in India this time and quite likely some pitches will offer a lot of turn. Lack of spinning alternatives is a problem for this team. Another big threat is that going hard at the top of the order could lead to wickets and the day it happens they really are going to expose their tail. With no all-rounders around, it would be difficult on the days their top order fails to deliver.

On paper, their first XI doesn’t look bad but they have quite a lot of holes in between to fill. Their middle order looks weak and if they want to plug that by getting Gayle in then their bowling resources will be compromised. According to me, they will struggle to make the playoffs. 

What do you think? Do you agree to my playing XI? Who do you think would make the top 4 in IPL 2021?

Share your thoughts!

Take Care everyone. Tomorrow I will be back again with the SWOT analysis of my favourite team, The Kolkata Knight Riders!

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