Kings XI Punjab May Change Their Name Ahead Of IPL 2021

It is very much astonishing to believe that in the 13 years of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) are yet to win a single edition of the celebrated tournament. It also surprises the cricket fans the most as some of the best T20 cricketers from all over the world have been part of the franchise in the recent years. However, in order to change their fortunes, it is being speculated that Kings XI Punjab will be changing their name and logo before the auction for the 2021 IPL which is scheduled to take place in Chennai on February 18.

IPL 2021: Are the Kings XI Punjab changing its name?

According to the recent sources, the Punjab-based IPL franchise which is owned by Bollywood actress Preity Zinta and co-owned by Mohit Burman, Ness Wadia and Karan Paul, are very much likely to enter the upcoming edition of the IPL with a revamped name and logo. It is also being reported that the franchise will be coming up with a grand announcement about the details on the eve of the IPL auction, February 17.

The KL Rahul-led Kings XI Punjab team got off to a poor start in the IPL 2020 losing games on a consistent basis, but in the second half, they returned back strongly with some brilliant performances. However, after losing their final league encounter to Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Punjab finished sixth on the table with 12 points and thus, failed to qualify for the playoffs.

Ahead of the auction, KXIP have skipper KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Prabhsimran Singh, Mohammed Shami, Chris Jordan, Darshan Nalkande, Ravi Bishnoi, Murugan Ashwin, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Ishan Porel. They have released the likes of Glenn Maxwell, Karun Nair, Hardus Viljoen, Jagadeesha Suchith, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Sheldon Cottrell, Jimmy Neesham, Krishnappa Gowtham, Tajinder Singh. Kings XI Punjab will also enter this year’s IPL auction with the biggest purse of Rs.53.2 crores.

Will the new name bring new fortunes for KXIP?

Talking about the name change, Kings XI Punjab are not the first team in the history of the IPL to revamp their name as in December 2018, the Delhi Daredevils changed its name to Delhi Capitals and the team’s fortunes have drastically changed since that as they have qualified for the playoffs in the last two seasons. The Delhi-based franchise finished as the runners-up in the last edition of the IPL. The KXIP fans will be expecting something similar from their side in the upcoming season as well.

Here are some of the hilarious reactions from the fans:

https://twitter.com/madanreddy_/status/1359418214023856128

https://twitter.com/DenofRohit/status/1359420270805540871