Punjab Kings haven't reached the playoffs in the last 10 seasons and will be desperate to break the streak in IPL 2025.
Punjab Kings (PBKS) reached the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2014 and that remains their best result in the tournament’s history. They have been consistently poor, making it into the top four only twice in 17 IPL seasons.
The Punjab franchise has consistently struggled in the league, with their performance often falling short of expectations. Last year, they finished ninth on the points table, securing five wins and suffering nine losses.
PBKS had to hit another reboot with the mega auction. They retained only Shashank Singh and Prabhsimran Singh and went into the IPL 2025 auction with the biggest purse of INR 110.5 crore. They splashed big amounts of money on Shreyas Iyer, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Marcus Stoinis, and Glenn Maxwell.
Shreyas Iyer (captain), Priyansh Arya, Pyla Avinash, Xavier Bartlett, Harpreet Brar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Praveen Dubey, Lockie Ferguson, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, Marco Jansen, Musheer Khan, Glenn Maxwell, Azmatullah Omarzai, Kuldeep Sen, Suryansh Shedge, Arshdeep Singh, Harnoor Singh, Prabhsimran Singh, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Yash Thakur, Vishnu Vinod, Nehal Wadhera, Vijaykumar Vyshak.
Looking at their squad, Punjab Kings will have some major headaches in IPL 2025. Let’s take a look at their concerns and potential solutions for the upcoming season.
₹110.5 Crores spent right? 🤑
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Strongest playing XI of Punjab Kings for IPL 2025 📌 pic.twitter.com/FupLDjz7gY
All-rounders are important in any format of the game, even more so in T20 cricket. But, Punjab Kings have added five overseas all-rounders to their roster. Marco Jansen, Glenn Maxwell, and Marcus Stoinis have the best chance of starting in the playing XI. Azmatullah Omarzai and Aaron Hardie may have to sit out, at least at the beginning of the season.
While Maxwell has the ability to change the match on its head, history suggests he can either destroy the opponents or be a liability to his team. Punjab Kings have experienced both sides of the coin and so have his previous franchise, Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Maxwell had three very good seasons from 2021 to 2023, where he smashed over 1200 runs at 34.7 average and 161 strike rate.
Stoinis’ record in the IPL hasn’t been great either. Last year, he smashed an unbeaten 124 in one innings but averaged just 20 in the other 13 innings.
Lockie Ferguson was one of the best picks by the franchise. They will now have two quality left-arm seamers – Marco Jansen and Arshdeep Singh to operate with the new ball. The pair would allow Ferguson to be the middle-overs enforcer and bowl at the death.
On paper, it looks promising. However, the Kiwi speedster has been marred with injuries in recent times. Ferguson was ruled out of the Champions Trophy 2025 with a hamstring injury he sustained during the ILT20 season. He looked in great form in that tournament, with 11 wickets from eight games at 7.11 rpo. His performance coming off an injury will be crucial for the Punjab Kings in IPL 2025.
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One look at the Punjab Kings’ probable XI gives an idea that they could be vulnerable against high-end pace and short-pitched bowling in particular. Captain Shreyas Iyer’s issues against this bowling type have been well-documented over the years. Maxwell has also struggled with the same issue, though not as much as Iyer.
In his peak years, Stoinis was a decent hitter of fast bowling but his ability has regressed
Their domestic batting options – Prabhsimran Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Priyansh Arya, and Vishnu Vinod – are excellent players of spin but their game against high-end pace will be tested.
The batting combination of Punjab Kings is likely to have at least six right-hand batters in their top eight, including the impact player. While most of them possess a good spin game, left-arm orthodox spin could still cause them a serious problem in the upcoming IPL edition. The same issue plagued PBKS in the last couple of seasons as well.
Punjab Kings spent INR 11 crore to get Stoinis in the auction. The price tag and reputation mean Stoinis and Maxwell will have assured spots in the playing XI. However, PBKS would be better served with Josh Inglis in the side. He is one of the best T20 batters in the world, averaging over 30 at a strike rate of 148. Inglis has been in good touch, recently blasting an unbeaten 120 off 86 in the Champions Trophy 2025. Among their overseas players, Inglis might also be the best player in hard-length bowling.
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Moving on to their other concern, what if Lockie Ferguson misses a few games? Punjab Kings’ only other specialist pacer in the squad is Xavier Bartlett, who has little to no experience playing in the subcontinent conditions. The chances of him doing well in his maiden IPL season aren’t great. PBKS can instead try the Afghanistan all-rounder Omarzai. He is a good operator with the new ball. Moreover, he has recently shown that he can be deceptively quick and bowl well-targeted bouncers.
In their IPL 2025 squad, Punjab Kings have only three left-hand batting options. Of those, Nehal Wadhera is the front-runner to feature in the playing XI. Priyansh Arya should also get opportunities. Wadhera played for Mumbai Indians in the last two seasons and showed good promise. The 24-year-old struck two fifties for them, showing a great range against spin. Wadhera had a poor Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy but regained some form in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, averaging 38 and striking at 107. If given a consistent run in the middle order, Wadhera can be a solution to their SLA issues.
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