Mohali, April 09: Kings XI Punjab will be without their local boy Yuvraj Singh, who will be leading the Pune Sahara Warriors in the fourth season of Indian Premier League, but the management is upbeat that it will not have any impact on the team’s fan following.
Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) has a new skipper in Adam Gilchrist, who led Deccan Chargers to victory in the second season of IPL. They also have a new coach in former Australian ODI specialist Michael Bevan.
Yuvraj, who won the Player of the Tournament award in the World Cup, led KXIP in the first two seasons of the IPL. He was replaced by Sri Lanka’s Kumara Sangakara in the previous edition, in which the Kings XI finished at the bottom of the league.
The team officials and skipper are not concerned about the absence of local star and said they are expecting a good show from the team.
“We don’t have icon players but we also don’t need icons. We all are equals. We have got a good bright team that has the right mix of experienced as well as new players. It’s a good opportunity for us,” said Gilchrist.
“Kings XI Punjab have a new look. We will endeavor to play as one team where each player complements the other. The squad has great talent and with renewed energy and teamwork we are determined to aim for a successful season. As always, we also cherish the unrelenting support and love of all our fans and assure them of our best efforts on the field,” Gilchrist added.
Arvinder Singh, chief officiating officer of KXIP, said the team enjoys good support in the neighbouring state.
“We all talk of KXIP as a team, which is supported by the people of this region and of the catchment areas of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. At the end of the day, it is the team that performs,” Singh told IANS.
“We don’t have any local icon player, but there is a connect with the people. We have already connected and we really value that.”
KXIP is owned by a consortium which include Bollywood actress Preity Zinta and industrialists Mohit Burman, Ness Wadia, and Karan Paul.
“We have put together a strong team this season with some of the best cricketers of the world. Captain Adam Gilchrist would infuse the right fervor,” said coach Bevan.
“I can just say that my boys are enthused to put the right foot forward and play some great cricket.”
The fans here, however, are disappointed with the absence of Yuvraj in the team.
“We all are big fans of Yuvraj Singh’s charismatic personality and his game. He has the ability to change the game. I am disappointed that he is not part of the KXIP time,” Sabrina Razdhan, a law student at Panjab University, told IANS.
Nishant Jain, an executive in a pharmaceutical company here, said, “It’s really difficult to relate with the team in the absence of any local player. We wanted Yuvraj to lead KXIP.”
–IANS