Kings XI Punjab, aiming for their maiden IPL title after reaching the final last season, began training today in the absence of their World Cup winning stars Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Johnson, who will arrive here in time for their opening game on April 10.
Captain George Bailey, who could only play a single game for Australia in the World Cup, compatriot Shaun Marsh and dangerous South African batsman David Miller will too be here by next week.
"Some have already arrived and some will be coming over the weekend. Most of the squad members including the Australians, South Africans and Sri Lankans will be at the camp by Monday. All of them are fit and raring to go," Ness Wadia, co-owner of the team, told PTI today.
Sanjay Bangar, assistant coach of the team last season, has been officially appointed as the head coach while Joe Dawes and R Sridhar remain the bowling and fielding coach, Wadia confirmed.
Kings XI Punjab lost the 2014 final to Kolkata Knight Riders after dominating the league stage. They bought three players at the February auction, their major buy being Murali Vijay, who is all set to open the innings with Virender Sehwag.
"We boasted a strong opening pair last season and it is the same this time as well. Plus we believe have firmed the squad and have the team to go all the way. We are definitely looking to win the title," said Wadia.
Players who were part of the opening day camp were Beuren Hendricks, Parvinder Awana, Wriddhiman Saha, Anureet Singh, Shardul Thakur, Shivam Sharma besides new recruits Nikhil Naik and Yogesh Gowalkar.
