IPL Auction 2018: Ashwin's acquistion and great batting buys major positives for KXIP, need quality bowlers on Day 2

KXIP which has had a pretty lacklustre decade of IPL is looking to turn a new leaf in its 11th edition. With Sehwag at the helm, his signature was completely visible in the players selected by KXIP.

So far, it has been an extremely batting heavy selection for the Punjab unit, apart from Ashwin, who is most likely to lead the squad. KXIP came into auction with only 1 retained player in Axar Patel. It subsequently two more with RTM cards in Stoinic and David Miller.

It has bought some big-ticket players in Nair, Rahul, Finch, Yuvraj and Mayank Agarwal. But what it needs desperately is good fast bowlers. Currently it only has Ankit Rajpoot in its line-up. The good news for them is they still have over Rs 21 cr in the kitty. So, there is enough chance for them to catch-up, although the best players may have already gone.

It seems like after failing to win 1PL in the first 10 seasons, KXIP is desperate to change the record in this season. And the first step towards it is getting the players good enough to get them. And Preity Zinta led KXIP with Sehwag as coach look determined to get their act right this time around.

They have bought some pretty big names so far in this year's IPL. KXIP got R Ashwin earlier for Rs 7.60 crores. Yuvraj Singh was bought for Rs 2 crore.  Later they snapped up two of India's premier batters KL Rahul and Karun Nair. Both are good friends and hail from Karnataka. Karun Nair played for DD last season, whereas Rahul was part of the star studded RCB contingent. But in this year, both will be playing for KXIP. Karun Nair was bought for Rs 5.60 crore.Nair scored two centuries in the recently concluded Mushtaq Ali trophy, and that certainly helped to jack up his price.

With Mohali being their home stadium, KXIP would certainly like to acquire bowlers who can hit the deck fast in their line-up. So, it is perhaps inevitable that they would go for Ishant on Day 2. 

Among those unsold today, KXIP can target Johnson, Hazlewood, Southee, Ishant, Malinga, Gurbani-who won Vidharbha Ranji trophy. KXIP is well in track to make a really strong line-up.

KXIP Team: KL Rahul,  Ravichandran Ashwin, Aaron Finch, Axar Patel, Marcus Stoinis, Karun Nair, Ankit Singh Rajpoot, David Miller, Yuvraj Singh, Mayank Agarwal