Fourteen seasons of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and there are only a few franchise teams who haven’t won an IPL trophy as yet. The team we’re going to cover today is one of them, as they’ve revamped their squad going into the IPL 2022 season. Right from a change of captain to a change in parts of coaching staff and management, they’ve gone for a fresh look.
We’re talking about a team that finished sixth in IPL 2021 after making a good start to the season too – Punjab Kings. They’ve always seemed to have big names in their squad but they’ve lacked the ability to close out games. The last season reminded us about their ability to lose from winning situations on multiple occasions, and they would’ve looked for more experienced players at the IPL 2022 Auction.
Punjab Kings before IPL 2022 Auction
Before the auction, the biggest loss for them was having to release their star batsman and keeper KL Rahul (on request) and we call it a loss because he’s the only player in the history of the league to score 550+ runs in a season for four consecutive seasons (and this includes three being 600+ runs). Additionally, they released one of India’s best pacers right now, in Mohammed Shami.
As for the IPL 2022 retention lists, they didn’t bother keeping too many on the squad list except for Arshdeep Singh and Mayank Agarwal. Now while all are mourning the loss of Rahul from the Punjab squad, remember that Agarwal has been the most ideal opening partner, also scoring consistently over the last few seasons. And with him also being super experienced, he becomes an ideal captain option too!
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We spoke about adding experienced players to the squad because they couldn’t close game and we think the signing of Shikhar Dhawan will help reduce that issue. Additionally, he fills in the shoes of Rahul the run scorer perfectly, scoring 450+ runs in a season for six consecutive seasons now, also being high up on the top IPL run scorers list.
One of their biggest signings was Liam Livingstone who hasn’t got great international cricket stats but he’s unbelievable in franchise cricket, recently adding the ability to bowl to his talents as well. He can up the scoring rate from any situation in the game and much like him, there’s Odean Smith who comes in low down and can give the ball a tonking, while being a much more accomplished bowler as well.
IPL 2022 – Punjab Kings full squad
Arshdeep Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Prabhsimran Singh, Odean Smith, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Ishan Porel, Sandeep Sharma, Raj Angad Bawa, Benny Howell, Nathan Ellis, Rishi Dhawan, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Baltej Singh, Writtick Chatterjee, Atharva Taide, Vaibhav Arora, Ansh Patel, Prerak Mankad.
U-19 World Cup winning sensation Raj Angad Bawa got immediately into the IPL action and seeing his skill sets in that junior event, we think he could be one of their biggest stars in the years to come, while he may not be in the first-choice eleven right now. He’s likened to Yuvraj Singh and is sure to make a name for himself. For complete squad updates for IPL 2022, stay tuned to ReadScoops.com…
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