Sreesanth was the leading wicket-taker for the Chandigarh-based side in the last edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), but will miss most of this season due to lower back stress fracture.

In the maiden edition of the IPL Sreesanth claimed 19 wickets at an average of 23.26.

“I had a good stint with Kings XI Punjab’s physiotherapist Patrick Farhart in Sydney and will be joining the team later this week,” said Sreesanth.

“With Patrick there, I will get a few more tests done and who knows, I may be fully fit before the semi-finals.”

Kings XI will also be without Australia pacemen Brett Lee and all-rounder James Hopes for much of the second edition and captain Yuvraj Singh has admitted his side’s depleted bowling stocks are a concern.

“On paper our bowling department might be found wanting,” added Sreesanth. “But I feel we have a pretty decent attack.

“Irfan Pathan bowled very well in the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007 so there’s no need to worry.

“VRV Singh is raring to go after a long injury lay off and Ravi Bopara is also a handy bowler.

“We have a quality spinner in Piyush Chawla and Yuvraj himself can chip in.

“Twenty20 cricket is basically a batsman’s game and we have a solid batting line-up.”

In the meantime, Sreesanth is looking forward to his new role as fans mentor with the team in South Africa.

“I’ll be travelling with the Kings XI Punjab team, but my new role, as a fans mentor, means I’ll be mixing with the fans, interacting with them and keeping the mood alive,” he said.

“Of course, there’ll be a lot of dancing and I’m looking forward to it.”
Source – espnstar.com