IPL 2018: Very Very Excited About the New Kings XI Punjab Squad - Preity Zinta

If there is one franchise that grabbed the eyeballs more than any other franchise in the recently-concluded auction for the upcoming Indian Premier League, then it has to be Kings XI Punjab.

While most of the franchises chose to play the waiting game, Kings XI Punjab went all out right from the start, as they made it clear they want to build a solid team to rectify the indifferent performances in the first ten seasons.

Led by their excited co-owner Preity Zinta, the Punjab-based outfit outspent rival teams in the players’ auction, splurging a total of INR 67.4 crore on 20 players. And in the end, they managed to build a team that is more than capable of challenging for the trophy.

Such was their desperation to buy big names that at one point, they had bought five consecutive players including KL Rahul for Rs 11 crore. After going for almost every player in the marquee list, the franchise finally landed ace off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and went on to secure the services of some big names like Yuvraj Singh, KL Rahul, Karun Nair and Aaron Finch.

The move eventually paid off, as they ended up building one of the strongest sides for the upcoming season. In addition to all the players mentioned above, they also bought the likes of Chris Gayle, David Miller, Marcus Stoinis, Manoj Tiwary, Mayank Agarwal and many other players who can win games single-handedly.

Preity was looking excited right from the very start of the auction, and her excitement only escalated after the squad got finalised. And the reasons for her excitement seem quite obvious. The perpetual under-achievers of the tournament are already looking like the team to beat in the upcoming edition, and the Bollywood actress just could not contain her excitement.

In a video posted by the franchise’s official Twitter handle, Preity said she was hopeful of seeing the players express their ‘Punjabi aggression’ on the field and said she was very excited about the new squad.

“I think everybody who’s been selected in the squad has the Punjabi aggression and I really hope to see that translate on the ground. I am very very excited about the new Kings XI Punjab squad, so I hope all the fans are excited too. Looking forward to see you all in the stadium and to a lot of fun. Hoping to see Punjab go all the way,” she said.

Here's @realpreityzinta's take on our squad for 2018! Do you share her enthusiasm? #LivePunjabiPlayPunjabi pic.twitter.com/tOPXU15NHP

— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) January 29, 2018

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