Over Rs 100 cr — Punjab Kings place their best bet this IPL
The Punjab Kings (PBKS) will enter the new edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) with some new faces, who have gained immense popularity in both domestic and international cricket. The region’s only franchise picked 23 (excluding two retained) players in the auction that concluded at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, today.
City’s lone entry
Out of the seven players registered from Chandigarh, only one was picked to play in the IPL. Raj Angad Bawa, who was picked for Rs 2 crore by the PBKS in the 2022 edition, will now play for Mumbai Indians, after being picked for Rs 30 lakh. Besides Bawa, Manan Vohra, Nishunk Birla, Gaurav Gambhir, Abhishek Saini, Anirudh Kanwar and Bhagmender Lather were
registered for the auction at a base price of Rs 30 lakh.
To overcome the IPL title drought, the management has spent over Rs 100 crore to bag 12 capped and 11 uncapped players — a step to revive the majority of the team for the upcoming season. While on the opening day of the auction, the PBKS went all-out for the capped players, including potential skipper Shreyas Iyer and others, the second day saw the management picking some talented uncapped players who have been performing well in the domestic circuit.
Capped players
Shreyas Iyer (Rs 26.75 crore), Yuzvendra Chahal (Rs 18 crore), Arshdeep Singh (Rs 18 crore), Marcus Stoinis (Rs 11 crore), Marco Jansen (Rs 7 crore), Glenn Maxwell (Rs 4.2 crore), Josh Inglis (Rs 2.6 crore), Azmatullah Omarzai (Rs 2.4 crore), Lockie Ferguson (Rs 2 crore), Aaron Hardie Rs 1.25 crore), Kuldeep Sen (Rs 80 lakh), Xavier Bartlett (Rs 80 lakh)
Uncapped players
Nehal Wadhera (Rs 4.2 crore), Priyansh Arya (Rs 3.8 crore), Vyshak Vijaykumar (Rs 1.8 crore), Yash Thakur (Rs 1.6 crore), Harpreet Brar (Rs 1.5 crore), Vishnu Vinod (Rs 95 lakh), Harnoor Pannu (Rs 30 lakh), Suryansh Shedge (Rs 30 lakh), Musheer Khan (Rs 30 lakh), Pyla Avinash (Rs 30 lakh) and Pravin Dubey (Rs 30 lakh).
The franchise had picked 10 players on the opening day of the auction.
The most surprising pick for Punjab was Delhi attacking opener Priyansh Arya, who fetched Rs 3.8 crore. There was a competitive bidding for the southpaw, as Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians also showed keen interest. Royal Challengers Bengaluru also entered the fray with Punjab Kings leading the deal. In the Delhi Premier League, Arya had shot six sixes in an over. He posted 120 runs, featuring 10 sixes and as many fours, and scored a century off 40 deliveries. The PBKS also got hold of domestic pacer Kuldeep Sen. A majority of 28 players registered from the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) were picked by different teams. Apart from Arshdeep, Nehal, Harpreet and Harnoor, who were taken by the PBKS, Mumbai Indians picked Naman Dhir for Rs 5.25 crore, while Mayank Markande pocketed a Rs 30-lakh deal from Kolkata Knight Riders. Gurnoor Singh Brar was picked by Gujarat Titans for Rs 1.30 crore. Ashwani Kumar was picked by Mumbai Indian on his base price of Rs 30 lakh, till the filing of this report.
