Punjab Kings had a below-par season in 2022 and they failed to progress into the final 4 stages yet again. In their 2022 IPL campaign, they lost 8 out of their 14 games.
As one of the underperforming IPL teams and not being able to win the trophy till now, the Punjab team will be eager to turn the tables around this time. That’s why they have released several players ahead of the mini-auction to rebuild the Punjab Kings team for IPL 2023.
Let’s read more details to know how the franchise is approaching the next IPL season.
All Punjab Kings Players 2022 IPL
After the exclusion of their previous skipper KL Rahul, PBKS assigned the leadership role to Mayank Agarwal. Having some big names like Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow, and Liam Livingstone, their batting unit was solid. They had some fine pacers too in the form of Arshdeep Singh, Kagiso Rabada, and Nathan Ellis.
But, the bowling lineup looked ordinary and the batters also didn’t perform up to their potential. That’s why they finished at #6 in the league stages.
Let’s take a look at all the Punjab Kings players in 2022 who were in the squad:
Mayank Agarwal (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Shahrukh Khan, Jonny Bairstow, Odean Smith, Prabhsimran Singh, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Sandeep Sharma, Jitesh Sharma, Raj Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Arshdeep Singh, Baltej Singh, Nathan Ellis, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Vaibhav Arora, Benny Howell, Ishan Porel, Ansh Patel, Prerak Mankad, Writtick Chatterjee, Harpreet Brar
The 25-member squad had 7 foreign and 18 local players.
Punjab Kings Retained Players for IPL 2023
Punjab Kings have decided that Shikhar Dhawan will be their new skipper for the next season. Apart from him, 15 more players have been retained.
Underlying is the list of all the Punjab Kings players in 2022 who will also feature for the same franchise in IPL 2023:
Shikhar Dhawan (c), Shahrukh Khan, Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma, Raj Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Arshdeep Singh, Baltej Singh, Nathan Ellis, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Brar
A few notable names among the retentions are Shikhar Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, and Kagiso Rabada. Dhawan and Livingstone were the two highest run-scorers for PBKS in IPL 2022 with 480 and 437 runs respectively.
Whereas, Rabada was their only bowler on the list of 20 highest wicket-takers in the previous IPL. The Proteas’ quickly took 23 wickets in just 13 games.
Punjab Kings Released Players for IPL 2023
The biggest surprise amongst the releases was PBKS captain in the last IPL edition. Mayank Agarwal was released after a bad run of form in IPL 2022. Mayank could only manage 196 runs in 13 innings at a poor average of 16.33 and a below-par strike rate of 122.5.
Odean Smith also couldn’t retain his place after some ordinary outings last year. His 6 innings produced just 51 runs in 44 deliveries. With the ball in hand, he took 6 wickets in as many games but was too expensive as he conceded 11.87 runs an over.
Underlying is the list of all the PBKS releases along with players’ prices in IPL 2022:
| Player | IPL 2022 Salary (INR) |
| Mayank Agarwal | 14 crore |
| Odean Smith | 6 crore |
| Vaibhav Arora | 2 crore |
| Sandeep Sharma | 50 lakh |
| Benny Howell | 40 lakh |
| Ansh Patel | 20 lakh |
| Writtick Chatterjee | 20 lakh |
| Prerak Mankad | 20 lakh |
| Ishan Porel | 20 lakh |
PBKS has released nine players whose combined worth in the last season was 22.7 crore INR.
Players Traded by Punjab Kings
Punjab Kings have not utilized the trading window till now and they released the players they didn’t want to keep for the upcoming edition.
Final Punjab Kings 2023 Squad before the Auctions
After all the releases and retention, here’s how the PBKS squad looks like before the auction:
Batsmen: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Shahrukh Khan, Jonny Bairstow, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Liam Livingstone, Raj Bawa, Harpreet Brar, Jitesh Sharma (wk), and Prabhsimran Singh (wk)
All-rounders: Rishi Dhawan, Atharva Taide, and Baltej Singh
Bowlers: Arshdeep Singh, Nathan Ellis, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar
Punjab Kings Predicted Playing XI for IPL 2023
Punjab Kings’ batting looks dangerous but there’s still room for a couple of local batters. In particular, they need a player who can play that anchor role in the middle order. The bowling is decent but at least one local pacer and a local spinner must be added to the squad.
Here’s how their starting XI can shape up:
- Shikhar Dhawan (c)
- Jonny Baristow (wk)
- ???
- ???
- Bhanuka Rajapaksa
- Liam Livingstone
- Shahrukh Khan
- Kagiso Rabada
- Rahul Chahar
- Arshdeep Singh
- ???
Players Punjab Kings Will Target in the Mini-Auction
PBKS have around 3 to 4 voids in their playing XI which they would love to fill in the mini-auction. The good news for them is that they have 3 overseas slots remaining for the auction. In addition, due to a couple of prominent releases of Mayank Agarwal and Odean Smith, PBKS has a huge purse remaining for the auction.
Their remaining purse of 32.3 crore INR is the second-highest among all the franchises. The three big names expected in the upcoming auction are Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, and Cameron Green. PBKS can certainly get one of the three all-rounders due to the substantial amount left in their purses. Getting Green or Stokes will be ideal as they are more suited for the #3 or #4 position.
But, Sam Curran can also do that job as he has done for CSK in the past. The need for Indian bowlers might push them to look for the likes of Ankit Rajpoot, Shivam Mavi, or Mayank Makrande.
Following is the complete list of all the cricketers who should be on PBKS’ radar for the mini-auction:
- Ben Stokes
- Cameron Green
- Sam Curran
- Rassie van der Dussen
- Mandeep Singh
- Manish Pandey
- Ankit Rajpoot
- Basil Thampi
- Murugan Ashwin
- Shardul Thakur
- Shahbaz Nadeem
- Shivam Mavi
- Mayenk Makrande
- James Neesham
- Karun Nair
