Kings XI Punjab’s director of operations, Anil Kumble feels that the side is “very balanced” that can win the IPL title this year. Kumble said that he is, in fact, happy with this year’s squad and they can produce the desired results in the UAE.
Last year, Kings XI Punjab failed to qualify for the playoffs and finished 6th in the league under Ravichandran Ashwin’s captaincy.
“It feels really nice, it feels a bit strange to come on to the field like this and then have the entire squad, I mean not necessarily the entire squad but the set of players that are here. So it’s wonderful to be on the ground and have a hit, it’s nice to be outdoors,” Kumble said in a video posted on Twitter.
“We have high hopes from this season, we have a really good squad, a very balanced squad, some experienced and some youngsters. I am getting to know them now and seeing them play for the first time here, some of them in nets, so yeah just looking forward to build on the preparation and to be ready for the IPL,” he added.
The former spinner also praised the side’s new skipper KL Rahul who has been in a great form from the last one year. In fact, he has really been impressive with the bat for the Punjab based franchise.
“KL is very relaxed, he is very mature, I have known him for a long time. He has the experience, international experience, having played this long and of course, the last couple of years he has been a part of the Kings XI and he has been their main player. He knows the team very well, he knows the youngsters really well. He is very excited and he is very keen. He has his hands full by being a batsman, keeper and then the captain,” Kumble said.
KL Rahul scored 659 runs for Kings XI Punjab in 2018 and replicated the same performance and scored 593 runs in 14 matches last season.
