Auction review: PBKS

 Casting the net at the right location - did they catch the right fish?

Looking back at the IPL over the past 14 seasons, while RCB have been in the limelight in terms of under-achieving, Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals have also floundered as much as RCB have done. Incidentally all three teams have tried everything to succeed - even changing their team names/logos recently. RCB's change was subtle - they changed the logo back in 2020. Delhi Daredevils transformed into Delhi Capitals - logo changed as well. But the most significant one has to be that of the Punjab franchise - Kings XI Punjab changing to Punjab Kings - KXIP becoming PBKS. The name or logo changes have not brought the trophy yet but at least, the relative successes of these teams have improved when compared to the seasons prior to the changes.

Alright, back to the real deal. How did PBKS fare at the auction? They had retained Mayank Agarwal (and let KL Rahul go to Lucknow - attributed to greed from Rahul rather than reluctance from PBKS - only time will say if that decision was right) and Arshdeep Singh, who has had significant IPL success and got rewarded for that. But the same can be said about Shahrukh Khan - more about that later. Historically, PBKS have always been among the top teams at the beginning of a season only to falter as the season progresses. With more teams getting added this season, it is only going to get longer and PBKS must be hoping to stay relevant until the end. So they had to pick a team that was ready to go to distance. 

Picking Kagiso Rabada, Shikhar Dhawan and Johnny Bairstow were signals of intent. But they didn't only go for the three they picked initially. They tested waters on most of the players who went into the pool. And they went on to add Shahrukh Khan to that list - after stiff competition from other teams. Shahrukh had impressed immensely in the Syed Mushtaq Ali and Vijay Hazare trophies and that prompted the race. But PBKS eventually succeeded in wresting back the star player. It looked like they were determined to go even further. Rahul Chahar, Liam Livingstone and Odean Smith came in for big money while they did bring back some of their Indian players - Rishi Dhawan, Prabhsimran Singh and Sandeep Sharma - with little resistance from other teams. Harprit Brar was another "retention" and that was definitely reward for the wickets of Kohli, ABD and Maxwell in the same match in Dubai last year.

With Anil Kumble in support, they seemed to have worked out the best possible combination that can take them through. But the loss of KL at the top doesn't seem to have been taken care of - they have put the onus on the Englishmen Bairstow and Livingstone to take up that mantle. But with the Englishmen you always get the limited availability factor and one hopes that does not come to haunt them towards the end of the seasons. 

Like a seasoned fisherman, they cast their nets knowing exactly where to catch the right school. But if you asked me if the right fish got caught, I'd say "not entirely". Only time can tell if they made the right catch. I only wish that they prove me wrong.

Probable XI: Agarwal (c), Shikhar, Bairstow,  Livingstone/Smith, Shahrukh, Rajapaksa/Howell, Sandeep, Harprit/Prabhsimran, Chahar, Rabada, Arshdeep