Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Punjab Kings (PBKS) announced their retention list ahead of the mega auction and the list was shocking as the franchise decided to go with just two players and both of them were uncapped. They retained Shashank Singh and Prabhsimran Singh. They released star players like Arshdeep Singh, Sam Curran, and Kagiso Rabada and the most shocking thing was that Ashutosh Sharma wasn’t retained.
Last season, it was clear that Ashutosh was one of PBKS’ standout performers, alongside Shashank Singh. However, he wasn’t retained for the upcoming season. Instead, Prabhsimran Singh, the explosive opener, was kept on. While there's no doubting Prabhsimran's talent, many felt Ashutosh had a bigger impact during IPL 2024. PBKS had recently overhauled their support staff, and this change played a role in Prabhsimran’s retention.
Ricky Ponting had taken over as head coach in September, and in the exclusive conversation with Sports Tak, Prabhsimran revealed that Ponting had wanted him at Delhi Capitals, his previous team, for the last three years. So, Ponting opted to keep the aggressive opener.
“I got a call from our coach, Ricky Ponting. He told me he was looking to trade me (from the Punjab Kings) to the Delhi Capitals for the last three years. He then told me that he was excited to work with me, and I told him I wanted to learn so much from him,” Prabhsimran told Sports Tak.
PBKS will enter the IPL auction with the largest remaining budget of Rs 110.5 crore and they also have the highest number of RTM options available at four.
IPL mega auction will take place on November 24 and 25 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 1,574 players will go under the hammer, , comprising 1,165 Indian players and 409 overseas talents. This diverse group of players features participants from a range of countries, such as Italy, Canada, the Netherlands, Scotland, the USA, and the UAE, with the exception of Pakistan, though all other Full Member nations are represented.
The auction will take place at the Abady Al Johar Arena, also known as the Benchmark Arena, and franchises will have the opportunity to fill a total of 204 available slots in their squads, with each team permitted to build a roster of up to 25 players.
PBKS are yet to win their maiden IPL title, they had a challenging season last year, securing just five wins out of 14 matches and finishing ninth out of ten teams. The franchise made a captaincy change midway through the tournament after Shikhar Dhawan was injured and unable to return. Sam Curran stepped in as the new leader for the remainder of the campaign.
