Punjab Kings (erstwhile Kings XI Punjab) have been part of the IPL since its inception, in 2008, but are still awaiting that elusive trophy. They made it to the final only once, in 2014, but lost to the Kolkata Knight Riders on that occasion. Their only other top-four appearance was in 2008.

After finishing sixth in four consecutive seasons between 2019 and 2022, Punjab dropped to eighth in 2023, and will look to turn things around this time.

Ahead of the season, they appointed Sanjay Bangar as head of cricket development. At the auction, their most significant acquisitions were Harshal Patel and Rilee Rossouw.

Punjab Kings squad for IPL 2024

* new buys in the auction.

Batters

Shikhar Dhawan (c), Rilee Rossouw*, Harpreet Bhatia, Shivam Singh, Atharva Taide, Viswanath Singh*, Ashutosh Sharma*

Wicketkeepers

Jonny Bairstow, Jitesh Sharma, Prabhsimran Singh

All-rounders

Sikandar Raza, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Rishi Dhawan, Shashank Singh*, Chris Woakes*

Bowlers

Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel*, Nathan Ellis, Rahul Chahar, V Kaverappa, T Thyagarajan*, Prince Choudhary*, Harpreet Brar

PBKS schedule for IPL 2024

Schedule for only the first 21 matches of IPL 2024 have been announced so far.

Match 2: Punjab Kings v Delhi Capitals, Saturday, March 23, 3.30pm, Mullanpur
Match 6: Royal Challengers Bengaluru v Punjab Kings, Monday, March 25, 7.30pm, Bengaluru
Match 11: Lucknow Super Giants v Punjab Kings, Saturday, March 30, 7.30pm, Lucknow
Match 17: Gujarat Titans v Punjab Kings, Thursday, April 4, 3.30pm, Ahmedabad

All timings local

PBKS in IPL 2024: Team news and injury updates

Shikhar Dhawan will lead the Kings, and is likely to be the lone anchor in a unit of power hitters.

Punjab’s bowling often goes under the radar, but this time they have one of the strongest pace attacks in the league. Arshdeep can be good first up and at the death, while Harshal and Ellis have reputation of being good at the end. Leading the pack will be the venerable Rabada. In Chahar and Brar, they have a reasonable pair of spinners, with Livingstone chipping in for company.

Punjab Kings probable XIs with Impact player options

At home

Probable XI: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Prabhsimran Singh, Liam Livingstone, Sikandar Raza, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shashank Singh, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Nathan Ellis, Arshdeep Singh.

Impact player options: V Kaverappa, Harpreet Brar, Atharva Taide.

The bowling attack is decent. If needed, the long tail can be addresses with the Impact Player. Brar can be a reasonable option. Livingstone and Raza’s all-round skills are likely to put them ahead of Bairstow and Rossouw.

Away:

Probable XI: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Prabhsimran Singh, Liam Livingstone, Sikandar Raza, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Harshal Patel, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Nathan Ellis, Arshdeep Singh.

Impact player options: Shashank Singh, Atharva Taide, T Thyagarajan, Prince Choudhary.

On spin-friendly surfaces, they may get Brar into the XI and list one or both of Thyagarajan and Choudhary among the Impact Players.