Indian Premier League (IPL) is set to begin from April 9, 2021. Punjab Kings who recently changed their name from Kings XI Punjab will look to start afresh this season of IPL in 2021. 2014 was Punjab’s best season when George Bailey was the captain of the team. Glenn Maxwell was the star that season. But apart from that season, Punjab has mostly stayed out of the top 4 in the league, thus, not qualifying for the play-offs.



Here are the top 5 players that could shine for Punjab Kings this season:


Chris Gayle: The Big West Indian has been around for quite some time now. But he is yet to lose his touch. Gayle is performing well in almost all the T20 Leagues in the World. Recently, he also played for West Indies again and made a q=request for a return back to the WI side. One player who has played more than 400 matches but still is hungry for more. He is one player to definitely watch out for.



Nicholas Pooran: Yet another Caribbean in the Punjab ranks, Pooran is a brilliant timer of the ball. He has a strike rate of 144 in 164 T20s as a specialist opener. Pooran was picked by Punjab to strengthen their batting line-up. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to blast on the scene as he would have liked, but still, he is still counted as one of the best batsman in Punjab Kings. The team selection would be tricky as Gayle and Pooran, both play at the same position.



Dawid Malan: The English cricketer was picked this year by the Punjab Kings team. Although he hasn’t played IPL cricket, his record in T20s is fabulous. He has five hundreds at his name in T20s. His recent for against India playing in the England team would make the Punjab fans really happy.



KL Rahul: Although he is not in great touch for India in the England series, he is still a crucial player for Punjab. Rahul scored 1, 0 and 0 runs in first three T20Is against England. The captain of Kings Punjab has the ability to bounce back and score runs for his team. That’s why he is included in the list of Top players in KXIP.



Moises Henriques: With every passing year, IPL franchisees have realized the importance of having a proper all-rounder in their side. Moises Henriques is that man for the Kings Punjab. The 34-year old has played in many teams in the IPL previously. But was picked by Kings Punjab this season. The franchise must be expecting Henriques to score runs as well as pick up crucial wickets.



Punjab Kings would be excited to go in this season with a changed name and logo and with the addition of few new players in their ranks.


Punjab Kings Full Squad: KL Rahul, Arshdeep Singh, Chris Gayle, Darshan Nalkande, Harpreet Brar, Mandeep Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Mohammad Shami, Murugan Ashwin, Nicholas Pooran, Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Ishan Porel, Ravi Bishnoi, Chris Jordan, Prabhsimran Singh, Jhye Richardson, Riley Meredith, Shahrukh Khan, Moises Henriques, Dawid Malan, Fabian Allen, Jalaj Saxena, Saurabh Kumar and Utkarsh Singh.