IPL 2018, Kings XI Punjab: Complete squad of KXIP after auction

Bengaluru, January 30: Kings XI Punjab have come close to bagging the Indian Premier League title only once. But they stand a good chance this time because of their calculated purchases at the IPL auction on January 27-28.

IPL Auction Special Site; Full list of teams; Full list of unsold players

Co-owners Priety Zinta and Ness Wadia, present at the auction, did not mind splurging big amount of Rs 11 crore ($1.7 million approx) for India international KL Rahul, who shined for Royal Challengers Bangalore last year. KXIP proved they are willing to show faith in out-of-favour West Indies batsman Chris Gayle, who was snapped for his base price of Rs 2 crore ($0.31 million approx) when his name was brought up for the third time in the auction.

Gayle apart, KXIP have a good foreign strength in their squad. The presence of big-hitting Aaron Finch and David Miller and all-rounder Andrew Tye will give a selection headache for coach Virender Sehwag.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will move out of his base Chennai to play for Punjab this time. All-rounder Yuvraj Singh will play for his home team and KXIP increased their batting strength by signing triple centurion Karun Nair too.

Captain: R Ashwin

KXIP will play their first match at home against Delhi Daredevils on April 8.

(1 USD = 63.65372 INR | Currency converter)

Squad strength: 21

Overseas players: 7

Funds remaining: Rs 10 lakh

Player/s retained:

Indian: Axar Patel (Rs 6.75 crore)

Overseas: none

Bought at auction:

Indian: KL Rahul, R Ashwin, Karun Nair, Ankit Singh Rajpoot, Mohit Sharma, Barinder Sran, Yuvraj Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Manoj Tiwary, Akshdeep Nath, Pradeep Sahu, Mayank Dagar, Manzoor Dar

Overseas: Andrew Tye, Aaron Finch, Marcus Stoinis, Mujeeb Zadran, David Miller, Chris Gayle, Ben Dwarshuis

Costliest player/s for KXIP this season: KL Rahul - Rs 11 crore (at auction)