Another season as also-rans?

Big Picture

After making it to the semi-finals in the inaugural IPL season in 2008, Kings XI Punjab's performances have only waned. From finishing second in the points table in 2008, they finished last in 2010 and then missed the play-offs in 2011 and 2012 by a few points.

Even though only four players - Piyush Chawla, Shaun Marsh, Luke Pomersbach and Nitin Saini - remain from their successful squad of 2008, they bought only two players in the auction this year, the least by any team, along with defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders. The squad also has plenty of players getting on in years, such as Adam Gilchrist, Azhar Mahmood, Dimitri Mascarenhas, David Hussey and Ryan Harris - all except Harris are 35-plus. Their star performers have mostly been overseas players which means they need to get more out of their domestic names, especially their pacers since their home games will be played in Mohali and Dharamsala where they lost five out of their eight games last season.

For this squad to churn out better results, they will also need a stand-in leader and wicketkeeper as their 41-year old captain missed nine out of 16 matches last season due to injury. Saini stood behind the stumps in Gilchrist's absence, but for a two-month long competitive T20 event, they are missing someone like a Kusal Perera or a Quinton de Kock.

Kings XI have also failed to put together a run of victories, failing to win more than two matches in a row last season. Additionally, they failed to win their must-win matches in the last two seasons, which kept them only two points away from the play-offs.

One thing working on their favour is the appointment of Darren Lehmann as coach; the combination of Gilchrist and Lehmann has already captured one trophy, for Deccan Chargers in 2009, and Kings XI fans will be desperate for a second, though the odds aren't favourable.

Key players

Adam Gilchrist averaged 34.40 last season with a strike rate of 120.27, made a highest score of 64* and led his team to three out of the eight matches they won. What went wrong? His hamstring. The challenge will be tougher for him this year as he is now 41, he last played a competitive match in May 2012 and the burden will be heavier as Marsh will miss King XI's first few matches. If they want to book a berth in the play-offs, Gilchrist will have to turn their fortunes around with his bat.

Kings XI's leading wicket-taker last season with 17 scalps, Parwinder Awana averaged under 22 and later made his way into the Indian T20 team. In order to change their win-loss ratio at home, Awana could play a crucial role if Kings XI do not want to rely only on their overseas pacers Ryan Harris and Azhar Mahmood.

Big names in

Kings XI bought only two players in the auction this year - Pomersbach and Manpreet Gony. While Gony has struggled to take more than five wickets in an IPL season after 2008, Pomersbach was the second-highest run-scorer in the Big Bash this season, 15 runs behind team-mate Marsh. With a strike-rate of 139.78 and a 65-ball hundred against Melbourne Renegades, Pomersbach would want to replicate that performance on Indian pitches.

Big names out

A player Kings XI released in November 2012 went on to score 966 runs in the Ranji Trophy at an average of 96.60 and was the most expensive India player sold in the auction, for $675,000. Abhishek Nayar is a player Kings XI will sorely miss as they need domestic match-winners, especially who can bat and bowl.

Below the radar

A part of the victorious Under-19 World Cup team in Australia in which he took four wickets in the final against the hosts and finished as the joint wicket-taker for India, Sandeep Sharma also took 10 wickets in six matches at an economy of 4.57 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy this season. He had quite a solid Ranji tournament too, finishing among the top five wicket-takers with 41 at 19.41 for Punjab. Giving him a chance to share the new ball with Praveen Kumar or Ryan Harris may not be a bad idea.

Availability

A hamstring injury Marsh suffered against England Lions in February ruled out him out of action and he is expected to join the Kings XI squad in the second half of April.