Weeks ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2027 mini-auction in mid-December, Punjab Kings (PBKS) will be busy looking to appoint three members of the coaching staff as former Australian cricketers James Hopes (bowling coach) and Brad Haddin (fielding coach) have resigned from their posts. Shreyas Iyer-led PBKS had already lost the services of their spin-bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule who is now a part of India men’s senior team’s Gautam Gambhir-led coaching staff.
After taking over as head coach, Ponting had roped in Hopes who was earlier part of Delhi Capitals (DC) coaching staff as well. Haddin, who was a part of Trevor Bayliss' coaching staff at the franchise, was retained.
Hopes has been appointed as head coach of Australia domestic cricket team Queensland and Big Bash League (BBL) team Brisbane Heat. Haddin has take over as head coach of New South Wales. Haddin may bag a BBL role as well.
Punter’s hunt begins
Ponting would look to find replacements for Bahutule, Hopes and Haddin ahead of the IPL 2027 season. The outgoing coaching staff helped PBKS qualify for the IPL final for first time after more than a decade. But, PBKS faltered after a brilliant start in the previous edition and missed out on playoffs chances.
“The head coach will take the call,” said a source told Cricbuzz about the replacements in support staff,
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PBKS’ below par fielding and bowling in IPL 2026
One of the main reasons behind PBKS' IPL 2026 campaign getting derailed was their below par fielding. Their fielders dropped as many as 16 (or more) catches in the season. PBKS had the worst catching efficiency in IPL 2026.
"it's like a virus. We've put a lot of catches down so far this season. The boys have worked exceptionally hard and, you know, poor old Shashank there. It just looks like the ball is following him around everywhere he goes," Ponting had said during the season.
PBKS' bowling was far from their best. None of their bowlers were among the top 15 in purple cap race. Their top wicket-taker in the season was left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh with 14 wickets at an average of 38.64. His economy rate was over 10 runs per over. Apart from Yuzvendra Chahal, no other PBKS bowler had wickets in double digits. Their overseas recruits Marco Jansen and Xavier Bartlett failed to make a mark.
"We were exceptional for our first seven or six games. Then we had that washout against Kolkata Knight Riders, and I think from that moment on we've just been a little bit off and as I said they're small things. They're one or two balls or they're an over here and there that quite conceivably, we could have won another three or four games, but we've only got ourselves to blame for that. We're in the situation that we're in as a result of not playing at our best over the last few weeks, but we've also got a very good idea of what our best cricket looks like and what it is and what we have to do to win tomorrow, and that's all we can focus on," Ponting had said with a game to go as PBKS were knocked out of playoffs race.
Players PBKS may release ahead of IPL 2027 mini-auction
It is yet to be seen whether PBKS retain the likes of Marcus Stoinis, Ben Dwarshuis, Mitchell Owen and Azmatullah Omarzai. Stoinis is still a utility player but he was retained for Rs 11 crore. PBKS can release him and acquire his services again for a lower price tag. Dwarshuis got just one chance and couldn't prove his mettle on IPL debut. If he is released, it will free up Rs 4.40 crore. Omarzai was unavailable for selection for several games due to personal reasons. He may get retained again. Also, PBKS may be sceptical about retaining Lockie Ferguson. The express Kiwi pacer had missed several games as he was unfit.
The deadline to release the list of retained and released players is November 15. The IPL 2027 mini-auction will take place in mid-December 2026 in Goa.
What PBKS need to fix?
PBKS would need to fix their fielding as bowlers created chances which did not amount to anything. In turn, it led to them facing the brunt of batters in the age of long lineups due to impact player rule.
PBKS need a back-up wicketkeeper-batter after the departure of Josh Inglis. They can go for someone like Jamie Smith for that role. They need a death overs speciallist. Considering how heavily Ponting favours Australian players, it won’t be a surprise if he picks young pacer Mahli Beardman who picked up a four-wicket haul against India A recently in a One-Day match. Beardman can use the back of the length deliveries to good effect and extract bounce from the surface.
Marco Jansen’s brother Duan is another option for them. He recently made a name for himself against Australia in the ODI series. Proteas pacer Ottneil Baartman is another option as he can use variations to good effect. Surprisingly, he had gone unsold in the auction. Baartman is yet to receive his maiden IPL contract.
An out-of-the-box pick can be Brad Evans who bowls well in death overs and is capable of hitting it big down the order as well. Also, England pacer Josh Tongue can be a surprise-yet-effective pick. Tongue can generate good pace and if the conditions favour him, he can trouble batters with swing and bounce. If PBKS continue to use Himachal Pradesh’s Dharamsala stadium as their second home ground, Tongue can make an impact there. He was the joint top wicket-taker in the Hundred 2026 for title-winners Manchester Super Giants.
Punjab Kings’ full squad for IPL 2026 -
Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer (c), Suryansh Shedge, Marcus Stoinis, Shashank Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Lockie Ferguson, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Xavier Bartlett, Vishnu Vinod, Musheer Khan, Praveen Dubey, Ben Dwarshuis, Marco Jansen, Mitchell Owen, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yash Thakur, Nehal Wadhera, Harnoor Singh, Pyla Avinash, Vishal Nishad.