After months of speculation of the change in captaincy in the Kings XI Punjab
side, the same has been confirmed. Kumar Sangakkara has been named as the
skipper of the Kings XI Punjab team for the third season of the IPL. He takes
over from Yuvraj Singh as this was confirmed by Anil Srivatsa, the CEO
of KXP XI. However, the statement only said, "Kumar Sangakkara is the new
captain of Kings XI Punjab. We are hoping for good things to come out of it,"
and revealed no reason for the change of guard. Yuvraj Singh had been the captain
of the side in the first two seasons of the tournament. While in the first season,
Yuvraj led them into the semi-finals of the tournament, the side could not finish
in the top four of the second season. Yuvraj Singh had topped the run-scoring
chart for his side, as he had piled up 340 runs in the 2009 season. Sangakkara
had come a close second with 332 runs in that tournament. However, the
CEO did add that the star player continued to remain vital for the side's fortunes
as an all-rounder. He also added that Yuvraj Singh had done well for them in the
last couple of years and would hope that the all-rounder continues to perform
well with the bat and the ball. He said, "Being taken off the leadership
role does not diminish Yuvraj's standing in the team. Yuvraj's inputs are vital
for us. He has done well for the team in the past two seasons and he has one more
year with us. He did his job well enough. This has got nothing to do with all
this." Apparently, it has been said that Yuvraj Singh was not
keen to continue as the captain. Apart from this, the IPL may be hit by
the withdrawal of Australian players after the threat from Shiv Sena. The Shiv
Sena supremo Bal Thackeray had said that he will not welcome the Aussies in Maharashtra
after the manner in which the Australians had treated Indians back in their country.
Adam Gilchrist, the captain of Deccan Chargers, has already started
thinking on the lines of withdrawing from the tournament, while it remains to
be seen how do the other 30-odd Australians react to the situation in India. Last
year, the IPL could not be played in India due to security concerns and
the general elections.
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