Punjab Kings (PBKS) managed to build one of the most formidable and lethal sides for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL 2026) season, having covered all their bases and getting adequate backups in the recent auction in Abu Dhabi.
With 21 players already retained, they had only four slots to fill and PBKS made some smart buys to build an incredibly balanced squad.
Shreyas Iyer, Arshdeep Singh, Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Marcus Stoinis, Shashank Singh, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yash Thakur, Musheer Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Lockie Ferguson, Harpreet Brar, Suryansh Shedge, Mitch Owen, Azmatullah Omarzai, Pyla Avinash, Harnoor Pannu, Vishnu Vinod, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Pravin Dube, Vishal Ninad
Punjab Kings mostly had a settled unit and bought four players at the auction. With the second-lowest purse value of INR 11.5 crores, the biggest signings for PBKS were two Aussie stars – all-rounder Cooper Connolly who came at INR 3 crore and pacer Ben Dwarshuis, who was acquired for INR 4.4 crore.
One big miss for Punjab Kings was that they failed to find a proper wicketkeeper-batter to fill the void left by the release of Josh Inglis. The only backup for Prabhsimran Singh is Vishnu Vinod.
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A strong batting lineup loaded with firepower with the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh in the ranks and goes deep till No.8.
A good mix of all-rounders with experience and youth like Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Azmatullah Omarzai alongside Musheer Khan, Suryansh Shedge, Cooper Connolly.
A varied pace attack led by Arshdeep Singh, including Lockie Ferguson, Marco Jansen with backups like Xavier Bartlett, Vijaykumar Vyshak and Yash Thakur.
No proper wicketkeeper-backup. PBKS let go of Josh Inglis but did not buy a replacement at the IPL 2026 auction. Prabhsimran Singh is the only reliable keeper in the side, with Vishnu Vinod as the sole backup.
Another weakness of the PBKS squad is that their spin department is relatively thin compared to the rest of the squad. Yuzvendra Chahal will once again shoulder most of the responsibility along with Harpreet Brar at times. Pravin Dubey, who was brought back as Yuzi’s backup and Copper Connolly are largely untested with the ball at this level, which can be a point of bother when the season begins, while Vishal Ninad was a domestic scouting pick.
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