Kings XI Punjab may have all but lost their chances of making it to the Playoffs of VIVO IPL 2016. But with two league matches still to go, they are determined to end their campaign on a high. And as they take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in an away game, KXIP coach, Sanjay Bangar, looked at the various gains the team has achieved along the way so far. According to Bangar, one of the biggest positives for KXIP has been the appointment of Murali Vijay as the captain. He lauded the opening batsman for taking up the reins of the team mid way through the tournament and turning it into one of the best decisions the team has made. “It has been brilliant watching Vijay’s captaincy. He has really taken to it well,” Bangar said. “Taking up such a challenge mid way in the tournament is always tough. The team is feeling very comfortable with him in charge, especially the bowlers. “He is a bowlers’ captain. He gives them the freedom to set their fields and make their plans; he just comes in with his suggestions. There is a lot of communication between him and the bowlers. Also, captaincy has helped him flourish with the bat as well. He is enjoying a successful season with us as a batsman and it augurs really well for us to have an Indian as the captain. “This, by no means undermines the contributions of the foreign captains we have had, but having an Indian as a captain gives us more options in terms of the team’s combination as far as the overseas players are concerned. It has been a very good change for us and I am very pleased with him,” Bangar said. On the subject of the overseas players, Bangar expressed immense pleasure to have Hashim Amla in the KXIP ranks for his maiden IPL experience. In only his fourth game, Amla showed his class by smashing 96 against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Bangar revealed the team was always keen on having him in their side, and with the injury to Shaun Marsh, they took the opportunity to rope in the South African batsman. “I approached Hashim prior to the 2014 player auction although his name was not on the list. He is someone we have always wanted to have,” Bangar said. “Then he had his reasons and said he did not want to be part of the IPL. Last year there was a set combination where even a player like Shaun Marsh was not able to get into the XI. With the departure of Sehwag and Marsh’s injury this year, it was an ideal opportunity for us to get Amla.” The KXIP coach also had words of praise for young pacer Sandeep Sharma, who he thinks has come leaps and bounds from the day he made his IPL debut for KXIP in 2013. “We picked Sandeep in the team mainly for his ability to swing the ball early in the innings. He used to give us three over good overs in the powerplay. But now he has added another dimension to his bowling by developing good yorkers. What’s more is that he has variety in those yorkers too – it’s not just over the wicket Yorkers, but he is capable of bowling them round the wicket as well, which is an area more bowlers are trying to work on. It gives us tremendous satisfaction to see the kind of progress that players like Sandeep Sharma have made through the platform of the IPL. When they take on the might of RCB, KXIP will be without Glenn Maxwell, one of their key power-hitters, owing to an injury. Bangar said that while he will be missed, the team has a good replacement for him in Farhaan Behardien. “Maxwell has been one of the top players we have looked at to deliver. This season he showed a lot of intent and desire and contributed a lot to the team’s cause, helping the group during the preparation part as well. Losing a player of his calibre at the back end of the tournament is a big blow. Especially when you come to Bangalore, you want players who can hit those big sixes at the end of the innings “He would be missed, but an opportunity missed for someone could be one gained for someone else. We have Farhaan Behardien who is a very underrated player. But he does a tremendous job for South Africa as a finisher. Yes, we will miss Maxwell’s presence and energy on the field, but we have total faith in Farhaan to do the job with the bat that Maxwell was doing for us,” Bangar said. As for their approach to the contest against RCB, Bangar said they will look to play their best cricket on the day. “Our last few games have gone down the wire. The ones we have lost, have been by very small margins. I am pretty happy with the quality of cricket KXIP have played in the last six games although the points table doesn’t reflect it. We need to come out tomorrow and repeat the same level of cricket that we would like to play.”