IPL 2017: Captaincy could inspire 'Mad Max'

Kings XI Punjab

FULL SQUAD: David Miller, Manan Vohra, Axar Patel, Glenn Maxwell (C),

Gurkeerat Singh

, Anureet Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Shaun Marsh, Wriddhiman Saha, M Vijay, Nikhil Naik,

Mohit Sharma

, Marcus Stoinis, KC Cariappa, Armaan Jaffer, Pardeep Sahu, Swapnil Singh, Hashim Amla, Eoin Morgan, Rahul Tewatia, T Natarajan, Matt Henry, Varun Aaron, Martin Guptill, Darren Sammy, Rinku Singh.

IN: Rinku Singh, Darren Sammy, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, T Natarajan, Rahul Tewatia, Eoin Morgan

OUT: Mitchell Johnson, Rishi Dhawan, Kyle Abbott, Farhaan Behardien, Shardul Thakur

INJURED: Murali Vijay

STRENGTHS: Kings XI Punjab have an explosive middle-order with the likes of David Miller, Glenn Maxwell and Eoin Morgan in the ranks to go with the all-round options of Darren Sammy and Marcus Stoinis. The pace department is also heavily stacked with some fine domestic pace options like Varun Aaron, Mohit Sharma and Sandeep Sharma, where they will be spoilt for choices.

WEAKNESSES: The biggest drawback is the lack of options in the spin department. Barring Axar Patel, they don't have too many good options. With the pace the pace department also being relatively inexperienced, the bowling could suffer big time in the absence of Axar. While the batting line-up looks good, Murali Vijay's absence has left them with very few good options at the top of the order. To have either Martin Guptill or Hashim Amla play would mean that the balance of the rest of the side is bound to get affected.

AVAILABILITY: While Murali Vijay has been ruled out and seems unlikely to play in the league stage, the rest of the line-up is fit. More importantly, a majority of the players haven't had as taxing a schedule as players in other teams. Physically and mentally, Kings XI Punjab will be one of the fresher teams going into the tournament.