PBKS faced criticism for not building an optimal squad despite being the highest spenders in IPL 2025.
Punjab Kings (PBKS) entered the recent Indian Premier League (IPL 2025) auction with the highest purse value of INR 110.5 crores and were also the biggest spenders, splurging a total of INR 110.15 crores.
Despite that, the PBKS management has faced criticism for not building an optimal squad. Their biggest chink in the armour is the lack of experience at the top of the batting order.
Echoing on the same lines, former India cricketer turned analyst Aakash Chopra highlighted that the PBKS opening combination could become a pressing concern for the franchise in IPL 2025. He pointed out that PBKS has two uncapped Indian openers in Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya.
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Notably, PBKS had retained Prabhsimran for INR 4 crores, while they spent INR 3.8 crores to buy Arya at the recent mega auction in Jeddah.
Speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, Chopra said, “Let’s start with the openers. They retained Prabhsimran Singh and have bought Priyansh Arya very expensive. He is a good kid, hits clean sixes, and his stocks have gone up drastically, but he is an uncapped Indian. His stocks have gone up at the domestic level. No one knows what he will do in the IPL.”
“If both their openers remain uncapped Indians, I will be a little surprised that if you got two uncapped openers despite having ₹110 crore, did you shop well? It’s a dicey situation,” he added.
However, despite the lack of experience, both players have strong credentials. Prabhsimran scored 334 runs at a strike rate of 156.80 in 14 innings in IPL 2024 while Arya was the highest run-scorer and hit six sixes in an over in the Delhi Premier League.
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