Punjab Kings (PBKS) will go in with a massive auction budget of Rs 110.5 cr, having retained only two uncapped Indian players ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction. Star pacer Arshdeep Singh was not kept on, with the franchise choosing to keep four Right to Match (RTM) cards for the mega auction. As per the BCCI rule, all the ten franchises were asked to submit the final list of their retained players by Thursday, October 31. IPL 2024 was yet another disappointing season for PBKS as they once again failed to reach the playoffs. Ahead of the retentions, their skipper Shikhar Dhawan announced his retirement while the franchise appointed Ricky Ponting as their new head coach.
Preity Zinta and co. will have to once again build their team up from scratch in the mega auction.
For the second mega auction in a row, Punjab Kings will go in having retained the least number of players. This also gives them a mouth-watering auction purse of Rs 110.5 cr, the highest-ever in a mega auction. With players such as Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Jos Buttler and David Miller up for grabs, Punjab Kings will have the best chance to pick some big buys.
PBKS also have the option to get back four capped players via the Right to Match (RTM) card. Fast bowlers Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel and Kagiso Rabada, English all-rounders Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone, wicket-keeper batter Jitesh Sharma and spinner Rahul Chahar will be among the favourites to be bought back by Punjab.
Uncapped powerhitter Ashutosh Sharma and uncapped off-spinner Harpreet Brar can consider themselves unlucky to have missed out on being retained.
Punjab Kings may also look into purchase players who took their Caribbean Premier League (CPL) subsidiary St. Lucia Kings to title glory in CPL 2024. That side was led by South African veteran Faf du Plessis.
PLAYERS RETAINED:
1. Shashank Singh (Rs 5.5 cr - uncapped)
2. Prabhsimran Singh (Rs 4 cr - uncapped)
AUCTION BUDGET: Rs 110.5 cr
RTMs available: 4