Big Picture

By retaining only Axar Patel ahead of the 2018 player auction, Kings XI Punjab's strategy was clear: revamp a faltering team, and use their right-to-match cards to keep some of their best players from the previous season. Marcus Stoinis (INR 6.2 crores), David Miller (INR 3 crores) and Mohit Sharma (INR 2.4 crores) were re-employed for salaries far less than what would have been lost from the purse had they been retained. Good business, check.

Kings XI also invested heavily on R Ashwin, their captain for the upcoming season, and KL Rahul, the joint second-most expensive Indian player (INR 11 crores). Andrew Tye and Aaron Finch were their most expensive overseas players. These eight players will form the core of an overhauled squad.

Kings XI also picked up two of the IPL's biggest superstars for "a bargain". Chris Gayle and Yuvraj Singh, with 6213 IPL runs between them in 221 matches, were bought for their base price of INR 2 crores each. Having finished last in three out of ten seasons, Kings XI took the opportunity of a fresh IPL auction to look elsewhere for inspiration. Will their results change?

The good

Pacing a T20 innings. In terms of T20 strike rates - Gayle (148.98), Finch (139.38), Mayank Agarwal (130.97), Rahul (129.81), Karun Nair (130.24), Yuvraj (129.83) and Miller (138.68) - Kings XI have batsmen who can adapt their game to set or chase an above-par target.

These seven batsmen have an average strike rate of 135.41. Assuming they bat 100 balls every match, that leaves Stoinis and Axar to finish games at the modern pace of end-overs batting, resulting in higher scores and more wins.

The bad

End-overs bowling. Their most economical bowler from last season who is still in their squad is Axar, who conceded 7.54 runs per over. Mohit took 13 wickets, but had an economy rate of 8.97. Stoinis was worse, at 10.47. The addition of Andrew Tye, a T20 end-overs specialist, should help considerably, but there are still several holes to plug.

The overseas question

Considering their bowling worries, Tye and Stoinis would be their first overseas picks. With the strength of their Indian batting core, Kings XI may have to choose two between Gayle, Finch and Miller, based on their team combination. Gayle and Finch hit a good patch of form recently, in the Bangladesh Premier League, and the ODI series against England respectively. Struggling to pick wristspin, Miller scored 107 runs in five games against India. With both Axar and Ashwin available, Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Zadran may have to wait for his turn.

The plan

With batting being Kings XI's stronger suit, and four of their home games in Indore, a venue with small boundaries, they have the option to bank heavily on batting teams out of games by attacking from the outset, like they did against Mumbai Indians last year. Aim high, and if the tactic fails, there is sufficient experience in the middle order to eke out par totals.

The best XI

1 Chris Gayle, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 KL Rahul, 4 Karun Nair, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Axar Patel, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Andrew Tye, 10 Mohit Sharma, 11 Ankit Rajpoot

The brains

Brad Hodge (coach), Mithun Manhas (assistant coach), Venkatesh Prasad (bowling coach), Virender Sehwag (Director of Cricket Operations)