Punjab Kings team 2023: Punjab will arrive at the IPL 2023 auction with a budget of INR 32.2 crore. They can buy up to nine cricketers, of whom at most three can be overseas.

In 2022, Punjab surprised many with their all-out aggression, particularly in the middle overs, due to the power-hitting of Liam Livingstone, Jonny Bairstow, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, and Jitesh Sharma. However, they were slow to get off the blocks in the powerplay, largely due to the sluggish approach from captain Mayank Agarwal and Shikhar Dhawan, both of whom struck at 123.

Ahead of this season’s auctions, they released Agarwal, Odean Smith, Vaibhav Arora, Sandeep Sharma, Benny Howell, Ishan Porel, Prerak Mankad, Writtick Chatterjee, and Ansh Patel. They also replaced head coach Anil Kumble with Trevor Bayliss, assistant coach Jonty Rhodes with Brad Haddin, batting coach Julian Wood with Wasim Jaffer, and bowling coach Damien Wright with Charl Langeveldt.

Punjab Kings team 2023

Strengths

Punjab’s strength lies in their incredible power-hitting middle-order quartet of Livingstone, Bairstow, Rajapaksa, and Jitesh. They have backed Shahrukh Khan despite his ordinary season – presumably to have the Indian backup that will enable them to pick overseas bowlers in the XI.

In Kagiso Rabada and Arshdeep Singh, they have an outstanding pace duo, while Rahul Chahar (14 wickets, economy 7.71) was their unsung hero in 2022.

Weaknesses

Despite the stars, Punjab’s bowling lacks depth. If they continue to back their three middle-order batters and Rabada, they need more top-level Indian bowlers. They have the budget for that.

Dhawan’s batting may become a concern. Not just in the 2022 IPL, he has failed to score at quick pace in international cricket as well (albeit in ODIs): his strike rate has dropped significantly. They either need to promote one of their big hitters or partner Dhawan with a quick scorer. Unless they do that, their powerplay batting may turn out to be detrimental to their hopes.

Likely buys

To partner Dhawan, Punjab may go for N Jagadeesan, who has peaked just ahead of the auctions. His ability to keep wicket may (or not) come in handy – though they already have Jitesh for that. Another option is Priyam Garg, released by Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Among Indian bowlers, they may opt for a left-arm spinner between veteran Shahbaz Nadeem, the Jharkhand veteran, Ninad Rathwa of Baroda, and Sumit Ruikar of Chhattisgarh. In Vaisakh Chandran of Kerala, they can back an all-rounder who bowls off-breaks.

Punjab Kings squad (overseas cricketers underlined)

Shikhar Dhawan (c), Kagiso Rabada, Liam Livingstone, Jonny Bairstow, Arshdeep Singh, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Brar, Nathan Ellis, Prabhsimran Singh, Rishi Dhawan, Atharva Taide, Baltej Dhanda.

Punjab Kings team 2023 purse: INR 32.2 crore. Slots remaining: Nine (three overseas)