Preity Zinta co-owned franchise Kings XI Punjab on Monday stunned everyone when they announced spin wizard Ravichandran Ashwin as the captain of the team for the upcoming season of Indian Premier League.

Talking about KXIP’s decision, Kings XI Punjab’s mentor Virender Sehwag was quoted saying to Times of India that, “I always thought that a bowler should be made the captain because I was a big fan of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Kapil Dev. I thought a bowler would be the best candidate for our team’s captaincy.”

There has been the mixed reaction among the fans, from the moment the skipper of the team was announced, as all-rounder Yuvraj Singh was the first choice of the fans for the job.

KXIP announced their decision through FaceBook live via the official handle of the team.

Notably, Yuvraj Singh had led KXIP in the inaugural season of the cash-rich league.

“Yuvraj was also there in our minds. But a lot of votes from our support staff and owners went to Ashwin,” Sehwag added.

R Ashwin is set to be the 10th captain of the KXIP. Other than him, players like Glenn Maxwell (Australia, 2017), Murali Vijay (India, 2016), David Miller (South Africa, 2016), George Bailey (Australia, 2014 and 2015), David Hussey (Australia, 2012 and 2013), Adam Gilchrist (Australia, 2011 and 2012), Mahela Jayawardene ((Sri Lanka, 2010), Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka, 2009) and Yuvraj Singh (India, 2008) have led the team in the past.

Talking about leading KXIP in the eleventh edition of IPL, R Ashwin was quoted saying to TOI that, “I see it as a natural progression for having played cricket for so long at the top level. I have always felt I had it in me (to be captain). WV Raman identified me as a captain when I was 21 years old. I ended up winning a few titles for TN. But for a bowler to become a captain, which is not something natural in the country, this is something fascinating.”

Here is the complete KXIP squad: Kings XI Punjab full squad: Akshar Patel, KL Rahul, Ravichandran Ashwin, Andrew Tye, Aaron Finch, Marcus Stoinis, Karun Nair, Mujeeb Zadran, Ankit Singh Rajpoot, David Miller, Mohit Sharma, Barinder Singh Sran, Yuvraj Singh, Christopher Gayle, Ben Dwarshuis, Akshdeep Nath, Manoj Tiwary, Mayank Agarwal, Manzoor Dar, Pardeep Sahu, Mayank Dagar