The Kings XI Punjab bought Martin Guptill in the IPL 2017 auction in Bengaluru last month, but the New Zealand opener will not be available for the early stages of the tenth edition. Guptill has been sidelined for around six weeks, and is set to miss a few of their matches early on. The Kings XI, however, will not break much sweat over the injury, as they have a strong squad, and another quality opener in the form of Shaun Marsh to partner Murali Vijay for IPL 2017.
Read: Why KXIP are wrong in appointing Glenn Maxwell as captain
Guptill missed the first three matches of the ODI series against South Africa due to hamstring problems, but featured in the fourth and fifth ODI in early March. He scored brilliant 138-ball 180 in the fourth match, but the player complained of his hamstring after the series, again.
Guptill has now been asked to undergo six-week conditioning programme to strengthen his hamstring. He will miss the remainder of New Zealand's season, and also the early part of the IPL, which will start from April 5.
Though there has been no confirmed date over his IPL availability, the Black Caps will not want him to hurry himself into Kings XI side as another hamstring injury ahead of the Champions Trophy could be disastrous. KXIP are one of the IPL teams, yet to win the title, and they did a decent job of strengthening their team by adding some quality players in the IPL 2017 player auction.
They added the likes of Eoin Morgan, Darren Sammy and Varun Aaron to their squad for IPL 10. These quality players have strengthened their team as players like Marsh, Vijay, Marcus Stoinis, David Miller and Glenn Maxwell were retained by the franchise before the auction.
With Guptill being an opener, they have good alternatives in their squad as well. They have the likes of Manan Vohra and Shaun Marsh, who have both been quality players at the top for Kings XI Punjab. Marsh, who is an experienced campaigner, should get the nod, as Vijay's partner in the opening few matches. The left-hander has all the shots in the book.
If Marsh is able to score good runs, and forms a good opening pair alongside Vijay, Kings XI could be in for a great season ahead. Even if the left-hander fails to score big in the opening few matches, Guptill, after he comes back to full fitness, can be used an opener by Kings XI Punjab too.
