IPL 2018: Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) to play home matches at Mohali, Indore

IPL 2018: Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) to play home matches at Mohali, Indore

By CricketCountry Staff Updated: Jan 06, 2018, 1:50 PM IST
[caption id="attachment_676114" align="aligncenter" width="628"]IPL 11 auctions will take place on January 27 and 28 © AFP IPL 11 auctions will take place on January 27 and 28 © AFP[/caption] IPL 11 is three months away but the hype around the league has started. On January 4 all the eight franchises released the players names whom they have retained for the upcoming the season. The remaining players would be going under the hammer while some can still be acquired by the same franchise through the Right To Match (RTM) method. Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) retained only one player, Akshar Patel in the side. Akshar was effective with the bat and ball last season. He took 15 wickets from 14 matches at 24.13 and scored total of 227 runs at 28.37. KXIP have also received second abode this season apart from Mohali. They will be playing their home matches at Indore as well in IPL 2018. Mohali will host four matches while Indore will witness three KXIP matches. This decision has come after security related matter between Punjab Government and Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) was resolved. KXIP had asked BCCI to shift them from Mohali as they received no support from PCA and less number of crowd attending the matches in this venue resulted in low revenue. KXIP’s Chief Executive Officer, Satish Menon, explained the depth of the matter to Indian Express, “We wanted to shift our base from Mohali but the main issue regarding the security has been resolved between the government and the Punjab Cricket Association. We are happy to be play in Mohali as there is different energy there.We will be playing four games in Mohali and the remaining three in Indore. It has been a good venue for us, and the response has been great as we have seen packed houses last year.”