Indian Premier League: Re-Grouped Kings XI Punjab Set for New Season, says George Bailey

George Bailey, skipper of Kings XI Punjab -- the IPL 2014 season runners-up -- on Thursday said his team has been training hard and aims to get off to a positive start against Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) when the two sides clash here on Friday. (Complete Indian Premier League 2015 coverage)

"It's been a quick preparation for a lot of our guys. But the whole squad has been playing a lot of cricket. We are ready for the new season challenge. We had a very good season last year but it's time for us to regroup and move forward and focus on this year," Bailey was quoted as saying by iplt20.com. (Glenn Maxwell remains George Bailey's go-to man in IPL)

Their first opposition of the season, Royals have a strong line-up led by Shane Watson. (Rajasthan Royals player informs BCCI about being offered money to fix an IPL 2015 match)

Asked about their strategy to tackle Australians James Faulkner and Steve Smith, who come into IPL riding on good form, Bailey replied: "The beauty of that is we have got a lot of Australians too and have lot of faith in each other. So we can target specific areas that we can try and exploit any weakness, if they have." (IPL: Graeme Swann's doosra avatar, spins to Bollywood tunes)

Kings XI have their own demolition man in Glenn Maxwell. Speaking about the big-hitting batsman, Bailey said: "His role hasn't really changed from last season. He had a fabulous season for us and that's why he is an important player as he comes into every facet of the game. He is obviously hard for other teams to pin down, probably has a wider range of shots than anyone else in the world."