IPL 2010: Sangakkara replaces Yuvraj as Kings XI Punjab Captain

IPL has another news on conflict between captain and coach. Kings XI Punjab coach Tom Moody is not satisfied with the captaincy of Yuvraj Singh and his attitude of ignoring team Management advices. Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara will now be leading the Punjab team in IPL 2010.

Kings XI Punjab in Indian Premier League - IPL 2009

Kings XI Punjab, the Mohali based IPL team is lead by Yuvraj Singh and owned by bollywood star Preity Zinta. The team could reach the semi-finals of IPL 2008 where it lost in the semis. Coached by Australian former all-rounder Tom Moody, the team was able to discover a new talent Shaun Marsh who became the best batsman of IPL 2008. In 2009, it has continued with almost the same squad.

Changes in 2009:
Yuvraj Singh will continue as the captain. Sreesanth will not be able to play for the team due to injury. Ravi Bopara of England is the new man in.

Squad of Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2009:
International players: Brett Lee, James Hopes, Shaun Marsh, Luke Pomersbach, Simon Katich and Burt Cockely (Australia), Jerome Taylor (West Indies), Ravi Bopara (England) and Mahela Jayawardene and Kumara Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)

Indian players: Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan, S Sreesanth (will not play), Romesh Powar, VRV Singh, Karen Goel, Uday Kaul, Ryan Ninan, Wilkin Mota, Ajitesh Agral, Tanmay Srivastava, Sunny Sohal and Yash Gandhi.

Head Coach: Tom Moody
Owners - Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia, Karan Paul & Mohit Burman
CEO - Neil Maxwell [10]
Ambassador - Daler Mehndi

Players to watch: Yuvraj Singh, Brett Lee, Sangakkara and Shaun Marsh

The team is a very balanced side. It was able to show a great performance in 2008 but no South African Player in the IPL 2009 to be played in South Africa is certainly going to be a disadvantage for the team.

Yuvraj Singh records against England

Career summary of Yuvraj Singh against England (updated till 19th Nov, 2008)

Vs England		Mat	Runs	HS	Bat Av	100	Wkts	BBI	Bowl Av	5	Ct	St
Test matches		2	64	37	21.33	0	-	-	-	-	1	0
One-Day Internationals		25	1060	138*	55.78	3	17	4/28	30.17	0	9	0
Twenty20 Internationals		1	58	58	58.00	0	-	-	-	-	0	0
in England		14	498	72	41.50	0	6	3/39	47.83	0	5	0
in India		11	584	138*	64.88	3	10	4/28	20.80	0	5	0

Source cricinfo.com

The Stats above shows how effective can Yuvraj Singh be against England. If you omit the test matches where he is not considered a regular member, you find him superb. Either its in One day or the only twenty20 where he got fastest fifty and the infamous 6-sixes, he has shown that his favourite is England.

This 7-match ODI series has proved all these. Two back to back centuries in opeining matches are the proof. The last ODI tour of England to India in 2007 was also the series where Yuvraj got a superb century and was man of the series.

Even Yuvraj Singh bowling becomes better against England. Still 5 more matches left in the series and Yuvi can show more magic.