The 2017 Indian Premier League auctions saw records getting shattered one after the other as teams broke the bank to secure their choice of players. Over 350 players went under the hammer as teams tried to sort out their composition. Now we take a look at the teams and their compositions and where they stand going into the tournament which begins from April 5. In focus today are the Kings XI Punjab. Kings XI finished rock bottom in the last season of the IPL. Despite that they went on to retain 19 players and released only four which meant that they did not want to tinker around too much with their squad. However, they had to strengthen their bowling department which seemed lacklustre last year and after the auctions they now look like a side full of promise and potential. Whether they can deliver on the field will depend on mostly on their form. As mentioned earlier, the team from Punjab needed to give strength to their bowling department. With the inclusion of T Natarajan, Matt Henry and Varun Aaron there is a lot of pace on offer but consistency might prove to be a decisive factor. Axar Patel will look to lead the spin attack but he is the only frontline spinner in the team and this doesn't look optimistic. KC Cariappa is other spinner who was dubbed as the mystery bowler but still hasn't lived up to his tag. Unlike other teams featuring in the IPL, Kings XI does not feature too many superstars in their side. But they certainly have a few match-winners in their squad. The likes of Martin Guptill along with Hashim Amla, David Miller, Eoin Morgan, M. Vijay and Shaun Marsh make the batting look quite strong on paper. Added to that are the all-round skills of Marcus Stoinis and Darren Sammy. Meanwhile, after a good outing in the home season in the longer format of the game, wicketkepeer Wriddhiman Saha will look to keep his form going in the shortest format. Saha's skills with the bat have proved beneficial at the top of the order for Punjab. Full squad: Eoin Morgan (2 Cr), Rahul Tewatia (25 Lakhs), T Natarajan (3 Cr), Matt Henry (50 Lakhs), Varun Aaron (2.80 Cr), Martin Guptill (50 Lakh), Darren Sammy (30 Lakh), Rinku Singh (10 Lakh), David Miller, Manan Vohra, Axar Patel, Glenn Maxwell, Gurkeerat Singh, Anureet Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Shaun Marsh, Wriddhiman Saha, M Vijay, Nikhil Naik, Mohit Sharma, Marcus Stoinis, KC Cariappa, Armaan Jaffer, Pardeep Sahu, Swapnil Singh, Hashim Amla. Squad strength: 27 (18 Indian, 9 Overseas)
