What went wrong with Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2018?
Kings XI Punjab boasted of a solid team that started the IPL 2018 season with a bang. However, in the last 8 matches of the league stage, KXIP faltered pretty massively. Five wins from first six games, followed by seven losses in the last eight. The consistency of KXIP dropped and it led to their free-fall. Here's everything that went wrong with the Kings.
Individual delights but no team performance
KXIP's Andrew Tye stood out and bowled well. With 24 wickets and the Purple Cap, Tye was in a different dimension. His three 4-wicket hauls showed how lethal Tye can be. The same can be said about KL Rahul. He finished with 659 runs which consisted of six fifties. But apart from these two, the rest did not show the consistency required in IPL.
Dependency on top order cost KXIP
When you look at Rahul and Gayle's contribution, they have amassed 1,027 runs between them. In the first half of the tournament, KXIP's victories were based around these two batsmen. In the latter half, KXIP fell altogether since their middle-order failed. They tried every combination and each one proved disastrous. Too many changes hurt their cause as the batsmen couldn't provide the spark.
R Ashwin gets 5/10 as the captain
One thing that hurt KXIP badly was the decision making of skipper R Ashwin. In the crucial game against Mumbai, the decision to send Yuvraj Singh below Marcus Stoinis and Axar Patel was flabbergasting. He was never confident about his middle-order, with new faces in almost every game. The omission of David Miller was a costly one.
Mujeeb a positive light for KXIP
The teenage-spinner, Mujeeb was the find of the tourney for Kings. He bowled well but his injury came at the wrong time as he missed the final few games. He finished with 14 wickets in 11 matches. He is a talented cricketer who needs grooming.
