Preity Zinta’s Franchise Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) ‘Seeks Name Change’ Ahead Of IPL 2018
The Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) was by-far the most animated bunch during the IPL 2018 Auctions held in Bengaluru on January 27, 28. The co-owner of Kings XI Punjab, Preity Zinta, seemed very aggressive during the two-day mega auction event.
The team was on a shopping spree during the bidding war by going with most of the players. The way Preity Zinta and her team was bidding, it seemed as if she wanted every single cricketer from across the globe in her team. After a poor show in the past decade, the franchise was looking for a complete overhaul.
At the end of the auctions, the restored team now looks to be a promising bunch for the upcoming season. As far as change is concerned there seems to be no stopping for Kings XI Punjab. Despite having never-seen-before look in the team, the owners of KXIP team is now considering a ‘name change’ for the team.
According to the reports, the team has requested the BCCI to allow them to change the name of the franchise. The owners further pointed to the concept followed by many sports in the United States where teams are allowed to change names when they shift base.
A BCCI official had confirmed that the KXIP franchise has sought for a name change ahead of IPL. If the request is accepted by the board, the Punjab based franchise will become the first team in IPL history which will feature under a new name in the upcoming season.
Coming to the two-day mega event, having Axar Patel already in the bag, Punjab franchise bought Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin as their first player in the auction for a whopping Rs 7.2 crore. Later, they bought KL Rahul for an even bigger amount of Rs 11 crore. The Punjabi boy Yuvraj Singh had his homecoming as the team brought him for Rs 2 crore.
However, Preity Zinta used the Right to Match (RTM) card to bring David Miller, Marcus Stoinis and Mohit Sharma back into the team. Karun Nair and Mayank Agarwal were also in their line-up, they boast of a strong Indian core group.
Rumor has it that the name will be having a suffix ‘Heroes’ or ‘Rangers’. Well, that doesn’t sound so good as ‘Kings’. What do you feel about it?
Kings XI Punjab Final Squad: Akshar Patel, KL Rahul, Ravichandran Ashwin, Andrew Tye, Aaron Finch, Marcus Stoinis, Karun Nair, Mujeeb Zadran, Ankit Singh Rajpoot, David Miller, Mohit Sharma, Barinder Singh Sran, Yuvraj Singh, Christopher Gayle, Ben Dwarshuis, Akshdeep Nath, Manoj Tiwary, Mayank Agarwal, Manzoor Dar, Pardeep Sahu, Mayank Dagar.