Kings XI Punjab, one of the eight franchises of the Indian Premier League (IPL), has changed its name and logo. The Preity Zinta co-owned franchise will be called Punjab Kings from the upcoming season of the IPL.
A formal communication was made to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) regarding the same.
It is understood that the board has given the approval.
“The team was planning to change the name for a long time and thought it should be done before this IPL. So it is not a sudden decision,” a BCCI source told PTI on Monday.
The Mohali-based franchise has failed to win an IPL title since the inception of the tournament in 2008.
In the league’s 13-year history, Punjab was runners-up once and achieved a third-place finish on another occasion.
IPL 2021 is set to start in the second week of April, with the auction slated for Thursday (February 18).
Talking about the mini-auction in Chennai, Punjab has enhanced its purse to INR 53.2 crores after releasing the likes of Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell and the West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell on the retention day for upcoming IPL.
While Cottrell was bought for 8.5 crores, the team owners roped in Maxwell for 10.75 crores during the previous IPL auction. Punjab has also released Mujeeb ur Rahman, James Neesham, Hardus Viljoen, Krishnappa Gowtham and Karun Nair ahead of the mini-auction.
“We have retained 16 players out of the 25-member squad that we had last season. So, the plan is to fill those gaps in the coming auction so that we will be a solid team going into the 2021 IPL,” Punjab’s head coach Anil Kumble had said.
