IPL Auction: Punjab Kings assemble a squad to dream of play-off berth | Cricket News

IPL Auction: It has been the theme of Punjab Kings to opt for a complete overhaul every other IPL season. In the previous mega auctions they formed a strong squad, but the performances didn’t reflect on the field. So they recruited Ricky Ponting as their new head coach and used the two days to build a squad that definitely looks strong on paper with bases covered. Here is the make-up of the squad.
Batsmen: Shreyas Iyer, Shashank Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Harnoor Singh Pannu, Priyansh Arya, Pyla Avinash.
Wicketkeepers: Josh Inglis, Vishnu Vinod, Prabhsimran Singh.
All-rounders: Glenn Maxwell (spin), Marcus Stoinis (pace), Marco Jansen (pace), Harpreet Brar (spin), Azmatullah Omarzai (pace), Aaron Hardie (pace), Musheer Khan (spin), Suryansh Shedge (pace).
Spinners: Yuzvendra Chahal, Pravin Dubey.
Fast bowlers: Arshdeep Singh (RTM), Lockie Ferguson, Yash Thakur, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Kuldeep Sen, Xavier Bartlett.
Early impressions: Can’t but admire the squad they have assembled that can genuinely challenge for a play-off berth. Ponting’s influence in the franchise showed at the auction table as he went big on getting Shreyas Iyer, who will be their new captain. And Ponting also brought as many as five players from Australia to the franchise, a similar path he had taken during his stay at Delhi Capitals. In Shreyas, Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal have three big name Indians in different departments. To support them, Punjab have brought Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis who will all strengthen their batting. Then they also invested smartly on Marco Jansen, who apart from being an effective tall left-arm seamer can also be a good batsman to have at No 8. For back-up there is Lockie Ferguson’s pace. Apart from Shashank Singh, local boys Prabhsimran Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Harpreet Brar, Harnoon Singh Pannu will add value to the side. In the pace department they have Vijaykumar Vyshak, Kuldeep Sen and Yash Thakur as well. Over all, they would go home happy and with a lot of hope.

Area of concern: How their plans will execute in the middle. Over the years, despite having a good squad, their plans in the middle have gone awry. They have take a new direction now.
Likely XII: 1 Josh Inglis (wk), 2 Prabhsimran Singh, 3 Shreyas Iyer, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Nehal Wadhera, 6 Marcus Stoinis 7 Shashank Singh, 8 Marco Jansen, 9 Harpreet Brar, 10 Yash Thakur, 11 Arshdeep Singh, 12 Yuzvendra Chahal.