New Delhi [India], Feb 1: Kings XI Punjab were one of the busiest teams at the recently-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) auction. Preity Zinta, the co-owner of the franchise, grabbed headlines as she went on a buying spree during the two-day event in Bengaluru last month. Unlike most other teams, KXIP had retained only one player in Axar Patel ahead of the auction. The Punjab-based franchise, which had not won a single league title in the first 10 seasons, was focussed on a complete revamp of the side and managed to do exactly that at the auction.

KXIP bought 21 players, including seven foreigners, and all but used their entire purse of Rs 80 crore at the auction. While they retained Axar for Rs 12.5 crore, India opener KL Rahul was their costliest buy (Rs 11 crore) at the auction. They also bought the likes of R Ashwin (Rs 7.6 crore), Aaron Finch (Rs 6.2 crore), David Miller (Rs 3 crore) and local favourite Yuvraj Singh at his base price of Rs 2 crore. T20 legend Chris Gayle also joined the franchise when they made a successful late bid for the left-handed big-hitter, who had gone unsold twice during the two-day auction. After assembling a star-studded unit, it seems KXIP are in no hurry to appoint their captain. As it turns out, the Virender Sehwag-coached team has released a list of five players of their "potential captain" in IPL 2018.