Punjab Kings (PBKS) have retained announced their list of retained players for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Surprisingly the Punjab-based franchise retained just two players in Shashank Singh and Prabhsimran Singh while many superstar players including Arshdeep Singh have been released from their squad. Their captain Shikhar Dhawan has also been released amidst his uncertain future.
Here is the list of Punjab Kings' retained players
1) Shashank Singh - Rs 5.5 crore
2) Prabhsimran Singh - Rs. 4 crore
Arshdeep Singh not retained
The left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh, who claimed 19 wickets from 14 matches at an average of 26.57 in IPL 2024. Despite his good show with the ball, he wasn't retained by the Punjab-based franchise.
Uncapped players not retained
It came as a surprise that PBKS did not retain their other uncapped finishers Ashutosh Sharma. Ashutosh scored 189 runs from nine innings at an average of 27 and strike rate of 167.25. His top score was 61.
PBKS who have failed to make it to the playoffs in last 10 seasons will be looking to build their team from nearly ground zero after Shikhar Dhawan retired from all formats of the game.
PBKS' remaining purse
PBKS will enter the IPL 2025 auction with the biggest purse of Rs 110.50 crore.
List of players PBKS can go for via RTM
While PBKS were not keen to spend big bucks to retain a few players, they may look to rope them back in via Right to Match (RTM) card in the auction. Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Kagiso Rabada, Nathan Ellis, Harshal Patel and Harpreet Brar are a few options PBKS may consider bringing back to the franchise.
Ahead of the IPL retention deadline, PBKS roped in former Australia captain Ricky Ponting as their head coach. They have signed the former Delhi Capitals (DC) head coach on a four-year contract.
“I saw some really exciting youngsters last year at Kings that hopefully we can attract back to the team for this season and put together a team that is going to be good enough to win the IPL. I mean, there's no doubting over the years that the Kings have had good players, have had good teams. They just haven't been able to win it yet. I have a longish-term deal there, and hopefully during that period of time we can win the IPL,” Ponting had said in an interaction with ESPNCricinfo.
