Star power, lone Punjabi hero gone from KXIP

CHANDIGARH: After a lackluster show in IPL-3, in which Kings XI Punjab finished last, the players' auction expectedly ushered in a sea change in team composition. Interestingly, Yuvraj Singh was the lone Punjab player to feature in all of Kings XI's matches so far. The new team, despite having some proven match-winners, is unlikely to have a homegrown hero. The performance of domestic cricketers played a key role in every team's success so far.This has been an area of concern for Kings XI Punjab so far.
Similarly, without Irfan Pathan, Mahela Jayawardene and Brett Lee, the team looks short of star power. IPL, a combination of cricketing prowess and star power, has been wowing viewers with its glamour quotient and instant entertainment. Though David Hussey, Ryan Harris, Stuart Broad and Parveen Kumar can emerge as star performers, their star power can't match that of Irfan or Lee. The franchise did bid for Irfan but didn't go the distance while Kochi got Jayawardene for a huge sum of $1.5 million. The outfit, apart from having a new coach in Michael Bevan, will now be led by veteran warhorse Adam Gilchrist, as the franchise didn't go full throttle while biding for former skippers Yuvraj and Kumar Sangakkara, who were bought by Pune Warriors and Deccan Chargers, respectively.