The trading window of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 officially concluded on November 15 at 5 PM. Franchises were required to submit their final list of retained players ahead of the IPL Auction 2023, which was scheduled to take place on December 23 in Kochi.
It was all over for Mayank Agarwal with the side as the Kings decided to move ahead without him for the upcoming season. Shikhar Dhawan was set to lead the side as he took over the captaincy role from Mayank, who had led the side in the last edition. The association between the two came to a conclusion after the right-hander’s poor outings with the franchise in the previous edition. Under Mayank’s captaincy, the Punjab Kings had finished sixth in IPL 2022, despite possessing a strong team.
Moreover, West Indies all-rounder Odean Smith, Prerak Mankad, Writtick Chatterjee, and Ishan Porel were in the list of players released by the side ahead of the auction. With the removal of big names such as Smith and Agarwal from the squad, PBKS had INR 20 crore freed up.
Star players Jonny Bairstow and Shahrukh Khan were retained by the side, both of whom were expected to remain for the next season. The side had three overseas slots remaining, which essentially translated to them making full use of the forthcoming auction scheduled to be held in a month’s time.
The Kings had a lot to look forward to when they got into the auction as they still had INR 32.2 crore in their purse. The side would look to make the best use of it and have an edge over the rival sides ahead of the new season.
IPL 2023 Mini-Auction Performance
In the IPL 2023 mini-auction, the Punjab Kings made history by signing English all-rounder Sam Curran for a record-breaking INR 18.50 crore, making him the most expensive player in IPL history. After the bidding surpassed INR 11 crore, PBKS entered the bidding war and beat the Mumbai Indians with their final bid.
Former captain Mayank Agarwal was expectedly the first player targeted by PBKS in the auction, but they were outbid by Sunrisers Hyderabad. Nevertheless, they secured the signing of Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza at his base price of INR 50 lakh. PBKS also showed a keen interest in uncapped pacer Mukesh Kumar, but they lost the bidding war to Delhi Capitals, who secured him for INR 5.5 crore.
In the accelerated round, PBKS managed to acquire experienced Chhattisgarh batter Harpreet Bhatia for INR 40 lakh. They also signed young Karnataka pacer Vidwath Kaverappa and uncapped Indian cricketers Shivam Singh and Mohit Rathe at their base prices of INR 20 lakh each.
Before the auction, Punjab Kings released nine players, including captain Mayank Agarwal, and entered the auction with the second-largest purse of INR 32.2 crore. They had 16 players in their roster, including five overseas cricketers. With the release of Caribbean all-rounder Odean Smith, they needed direct replacements for both Smith and Agarwal.
PBKS had a strong top-order with newly appointed captain Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow as openers. The middle-order included Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Shahrukh Khan, and Liam Livingstone, and the signings of Curran and Raza boosted their chances in IPL 2023.
In the bowling department, Arshdeep Singh and Kagiso Rabada formed a strong pace duo, but they lacked quality spinners with Rahul Chahar expected to lead the department. Raza could offer a good backup spin option, but it remained to be seen if he would be a first-choice player. Overall, Punjab Kings seemed content with their auction activities and left with a squad of 22 players for IPL 2023 and INR 12.20 crore remaining in their purse.
The final Punjab Kings squad that will play in the IPL 2023 is as follows –
Wicket-Keeper/Batsmen
Jonny Bairstow
Prabhsimran Singh
Jitesh Sharma
Batsmen
Shikhar Dhawan
Harpreet Brar
Raj Bawa
Bhanuka Rajapaksa
Harpreet Bhatia
All-Rounders
Shahrukh Khan
Liam Livingstone
Rishi Dhawan
Baltej Dhanda
Atharva Taide
Sam Curran
Sikandar Raza
Mohit Rathe
Shivam Singh
Bowlers
Arshdeep Singh
Shikhar Dhawan
Rahul Chahar
Nathan Ellis
Vidwath Kaverappa
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