Kings XI Punjab ended the group stage second to bottom and their net run rate is the worst in the league. (Source: BCCI)
KL Rahul’s run tally this season at the end of the group stage stands at 659 runs, 18 more than what 2017 Orange Cap winner David Warner scored for Sunrisers Hyderabad. There are two points that differentiate Warner and Rahul’s respective seasons. The first is that, unlike the Australian, Rahul stood third in the Orange Cap list and not at the top, which is an indication of how hard IPL 2018 has been on the bowlers. Secondly, while Warner’s SRH finished third and were knocked out at the eliminator stage of the tournament, Rahul’s Kings XI Punjab have finished seventh this season having lost eight matches and won six.
It was a rather strange outing for Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2018. While Rahul is the standout, Andrew Tye and Mujeeb Ur Rahman have often had incredible figures to their names at the end of opposition innings. Tye is the highest wicket-taker with 24 wickets and is likely to finish with the Purple Cap on his head unless Siddharth Kaul and Rashid Khan, the two bowlers closest to him who will also play in the knockouts, take at least seven and eight wickets respectively in SRH’s upcoming matches. Mujeeb could not play in the final three matches of the group stage due to a finger injury and his absence was clearly felt as there was no one who could rein in the opposition batsmen in the middle overs. It has to be said though, that even he would have been of little help if the KXIP bowlers were tasked with defending a target of 89 against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Poor Net Run Rate
It was the 48th match of the season and Umesh Yadav swooped down on Punjab who were batting first. His three wickets included those of Chris Gayle and KL Rahul and he set the scene for the carnage. Kings XI Punjab were all out for 89, Virat Kohli and Parthiv Patel scored 92 runs and RCB won the match by 10 wickets. This came after Kolkata Knight Riders had smoked them for 245 runs in their previous fixture. In two games, Punjab’s net run rate was bludgeoned beyond recognition.
Failure of big names
Chris Gayle got off to a flying start but has since fallen flat. (Source: PTI)
These two games also showed all that has been wrong with KXIP this season. When Rahul, Tye and Mujeeb failed, others have seldom stepped up. Even when they did not fail, performances of their teammates have been so lacklustre that they could do little to salvage the situation. Gayle smashed an unbeaten 104 in their third match of the season and followed that up with a valuable 62 against Kolkata Knight Riders in his next. It looked like the West Indies superstar was back to his brutal best but, apart from a 50 against Mumbai Indians, Gayle fell flat since. Karun Nair and Mayank Agarwal have been inconsistent at best while an ageing Yuvraj Singh has been more of a liability than an asset. Marcus Stoinis, David Miller, and Aaron Finch are all players that usually leave demoralised bowlers in T20 cricket but they contributed with just 307 runs in the season. This was also the best chance R Ashwin had of making a case for his return to the India limited overs squad but it hasn’t worked out for him that way. He managed 10 wickets at an average 41 in the season.
Overdependence on a few individuals has been the bane of most teams who have been knocked in the group stage this season. A look at the leaderboards for the Orange and Purple caps and then the league standings would tell you that Kings XI Punjab are one of them. They started the group stage with five wins in six matches, four of which came on the bounce; they end it with five consecutive defeats.
League stage performance: 6 wins, 8 defeats, 12 points (seventh place)