Fumbling Royals look to seal top-2 spots on return to Guwahati
to stay in the top-two positions as they prepare to take on an unpredictable Punjab Kings in their second ‘home’ at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday.
Kings XI Punjab signed England all-rounder Sam Curran for Rs 7.2 crore, making him the most expensive overseas player in the Indian Premier League (IPL) players’ auction.
KXIP also roped in architect-turned cricketer Varun Chakaravarthy for a whopping sum of Rs 8.4 crores. Chakravarthy, a mystery spinner from Tamil Nadu, was also the highest wicket-taker (22) in the group stages of Vijay Hazare trophy in October.
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Prabhsimran Singh was another big signing by the team co-owned by Preity Zinta. He was bought for an impressive Rs 4.8 crores. Kings XI Punjab also secured the services of Indian speedster Mohammed Shami.
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R Ashwin-led Punjab failed to make it to the knockout stage last season despite getting the perfect start. Punjab, however, lost seven out of their last eight games to cut a sorry figure finishing second from last.
Before the auction, KXIP released 11 players from their squad including Aaron Finch, Axar Patel, Mohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh. KXIP also traded Marcus Stoinis for Mandeep Singh to bolster their batting department.
KXIP squad: KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Andrew Tye, Mayank Agarwal, Ankit Rajpoot, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Karun Nair, David Miller and Ravichandran Ashwin, Moises Henriques, Nicholas Pooran, Varun Chakaravarthy, Sam Curran, Mohammad Shami, Sarfaraz Khan, Hardus Viljoen, Arshdeep Singh, Darshan Nalkande, Prabhsimran Singh, Agnivesh Ayachi, Harpreet Brar, and Murugan Ashwin
Players released by KXIP: Aaron Finch, Axar Patel, Mohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Barinder Sran, Ben Dwarshuis, Manoj Tiwary, Akshdeep Nath, Pardeep Sahu, Mayank Dagar and Manzoor Dar
Players Bought: Moises Henriques, Nicholas Pooran, Varun Chakaravarthy, Sam Curran, Mohammad Shami, Sarfaraz Khan, Hardus Viljoen, Arshdeep Singh, Darshan Nalkande, Prabhsimran Singh, Agnivesh Ayachi, Harpreet Brar, Murugan Ashwin.
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