Sunil Gavaskar, the former legendary batsman and skipper of India believes that the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) franchise will depend a lot on their batting giants like KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, and Glenn Maxwell to score the bulk amount of runs for them. According to Sunil Gavaskar, this is because their bowling is not up to the mark and is very weak.
The 71-year-old stated that KXIP will have to post big totals consistently — and will have to give their bowlers some target to bowl at. KXIP have big-hitters like Chris Gayle and Glenn Maxwell and consistent performers like KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair and Nicholas Pooran as quality batsmen.
Sunil Gavaskar Says KXIP Weakness Is Bowling So They Have To Score Well And Give Opposition A Tough Target To Chase
Barring Indian pacer Mohammed Shami, there are no experienced names in the bowling department that could defend smaller totals.
“This time, the weakness in the Kings XI Punjab squad is their bowling. They have very good batsmen and will depend on them a lot. They will have to score well in every game and give their bowlers a target that they can defend.
Because if the batsmen do not make enough runs, then their fate will be similar to last year. They will entertain for some time but will not win,” Sunil Gavaskar told Sports Tak.
The pace attack will be spearheaded by Mohammad Shami besides including West Indian Sheldon Cottrell and England pacer Chris Jordan but the latter two are short on experience.
The spin attack consists of Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman and the leading wicket-taker of U-19 World Cup 2020, Ravi Bishnoi. Besides Bengal’s pacer Ishan Porel, Indian spinner Murugan Ashwin and New Zealand all-round pacer Jimmy Neesham are also present in the squad.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman had taken IPL 2018 by storm on his way to picking 14 wickets in 11 matches at under 7 runs an over while Ravi Bishnoi picked up 17 wickets from just six games and finished as the top wicket-taker in the U-19 World Cup 2020 and will make his debut in IPL 2020.
Sunil Gavaskar Also Believes That Sarfaraz Khan Will Score Bulk Runs In IPL 2020
Sunil Gavaskar believes that 22-year-old Sarfaraz Khan will have a brilliant IPL 2020 season. Sarfaraz Khan was in fantastic form for Mumbai in the previous domestic season. He scored a triple hundred against Uttar Pradesh and followed it with a double hundred against Himachal Pradesh.
Sunil Gavaskar believes that Sarfaraz Khan will score heaps of runs and will be an important player for KXIP in IPL 2020. Sarfaraz Khan scored 180 runs from 8 matches in 2019 averaging 45.
“I will send Sarfaraz Khan to bat at No.5. Sarfaraz has shown brilliant form in the last domestic season by scoring a triple century and following up with a double century. I agree that there has been a gap of 8-9 months between that season and this season. But the kind of confidence that he will have, I feel that he will score a lot of runs on these pitches,” Sunil Gavaskar said.
KXIP will begin their IPL 2020 campaign against the Delhi Capitals on 20th September at Dubai.