Biography
Jointly owned by Bollywood actress Preity Zinta, Karan Paul (Apeejay Surendra Group) and Mohit Burman, the Punjab team had a fabulous first season in the Indian Premier League, where they finished second on the points table with the help of Shaun Marsh who was a one-man army for his team. Unfortunately for the franchise, the team failed to live up to its standards in the next two editions. However, in 2011, with senior Australian player Adam Gilchrist leading from the front, the team fought its way back into the competition but still struggled to make it to the playoffs.
The 2012 auctions, though, saw the franchise making a few changes in their squad for the fifth season. Former Pakistani cricketer Azhar Mahmood (with English citizenship), Ramesh Powar and James Faulkner were bought by Punjab, while Dinesh Karthik was transferred to the Mumbai Indians camp in exchange for Rajagopal Sathish. Punjab had a quiet first half but bounced back dangerously in the second, only to disappear in thin air when it mattered. They had to be content with a 6th place finish in the end. However, in 2014, the Punjab team turned it around and enjoyed their best tournament. The Australian, Glenn Maxwell, who was bought in the auction, was at the thick of things, scoring 552 runs and was instrumental in their success. They topped the table and finished as runner-ups after losing a thriller to Kolkata.
After that, Punjab were not consistent enough. In the 2018 auction, they bought in quite a few superstars like Chris Gayle, KL Rahul and Aaron Finch and started off the tournament in an excellent manner under Ravichandran Ashwin's captaincy but lost their way when it mattered the most. In the following season, they finished sixth but by scoring close to 600 runs in that term, KL Rahul earned himself a name. He was soon handed over the leadership role and led the team in 2020.
KL Rahul prospered as a batter for Punjab, amassing 670 runs but the fortunes of Punjab didn't change. In three consecutive seasons, starting from 2019, they have finished 6th on the table. Before the 2022 mega auction, KL Rahul was released by Punjab and they retained only two players, Mayank Agarwal and Arshdeep Singh. They bought a few big names in the auction and secured the services of Kagiso Rabada, Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow, Shahrukh Khan, and Liam Livingstone. And yet, in the 2022 season, Punjab found themselves once again sixth on the points table and their knack of falling short of a playoff berth continued.
Shikhar Dhawan took the captaincy after KL Rahul's departure, but their fortunes didn't change much as they finished sixth once again. Punjab broke the bank for young English all-rounder, Sam Curran buying him for INR 18.5 Crores, the then-most expensive player in the history of the tournament. They also added a few Indian talents along with the talented Zimbabwean, Sikandar Raza. However, they struggled to keep the consistency and finished eighth missing the playoffs again. They retained most players for the 2024 season but also spent a good amount with some of the notable buys being Harshal Patel for INR 11.75 Crores, Rilee Russow for INR 8 Crores, and Chris Woakes for INR 4.2 Crores. Their squad now looks well balanced with talented local players and experience overseas and they will be hoping that everything clicks and they at least make the playoffs this time if not win the trophy.
