Punjab Kings, Formerly known as Kings XI Punjab, will feature in IPL 2021 representing Punjab Region of the country. Punjab Kings Squad is always full of thrilling and exciting players but still they are one of those sides who are yet to win an IPL trophy.
They are surely hoping that changing the name of their franchise will also change their fates and they will finally break the jinx of not winning an IPL trophy. Last year Punjab kings finished at 6th spot in the IPL.
Punjab Kings Squad 2021
Led by the Indian Wicket Keeper Batsman KL Rahul, Punjab Kings have got 25 energetic players in their Squad for IPL 2021. They surely have to put last season behind them and begin a new chapter.
Punjab have got Dawid Malan in their squad along-with Chris Gayle who was not as his brutal best in recent years as he was in his heydays and Jhye Richardson. All these players have great reputation in T20 Cricket and this makes Punjab Kings one of the strongest sides in IPL 2021.
U19 spin sensation Ravi Bishnoi, all rounder Chris Jordan, with flamboyance of Nicholas Pooran and Indian Express Mohammad Shami will further boost the chances of PBKS in IPL 14th edition.
Punjab Kings Players List 2021
Punjab Kings Squad 2021
KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Fabian Allen, Arshdeep Singh, Murugan Ashwin, Chris Gayle, Harpreet Brar, Moises Henriques, Deepak Hooda, Chris Jordan, Sarfaraz Khan, Dawid Malan Aiden Markram, Mandeep Singh, Riley Meredith Nathan Ellis, Mohammad Shami, Darshan Nalkande, Nicholas Pooran, Ishan Porel, Ravi Bishnoi, Prabhsimran Singh, Jhye Richardson Adil Rashid, Saurabh Kumar, Jalaj Saxena, Shahrukh Khan and Utkarsh Singh.
PKBS Replacement Players
Australian fast bowling duo of Jhye Richradson and Riley Meredith who were playing their first IPL season in 2021 have withdrawn from UAE leg of IPL and they have been replaced by New Zealand’s fast bowler Nathan Ellis and England leg spinner Adil Rashid.
Another more important and significant replacement is of World # 1 Dawid Malan who has been replaced by South African opening batsman Aiden Markram. Recently Markram has shown his potential in spin bowling when he picked up some crucial wickets in series against Bangladesh
Punjab Kings Replacement Player List
| S.# | OUT | IN |
| 1 | Dawid Malan | Aiden Markram |
| 2 | Jhye Richardson | Nathan Ellis |
| 3 | Riley Meridth | Adil rashid |
Punjab Kings Auction IPL 2021
Punjab Kings entered the IPL 2021 auction with the highest budget amongst all teams. They made huge purchases like Jhye Richardson (14 crores), Riley Meredith (8 crores) and Shahrukh Khan 5.25 crores. They almost sort of revamped their team with a lot of new superstars. Apart from the mentioned 3, they also purchased the No.1 T20I batsman Dawid Malan, that too at his base price of 1.5 crores only.
Punjab Kings all players with their price
- Jhye Richardson – INR 14 crores.
- Riley Meredith – INR 8 crores.
- Dawid Malan – INR 1.5 crores.
- Shahrukh Khan – INR 5.25 crores.
- Moises Henriques – INR 4.20 crores.
- Jalaj Saxena – INR 30 lakhs.
- Utkarsh Singh – INR 20 lakhs.
- Saurabh Kumar – INR 20 lakhs.
Punjab Kings Released Players
After a not a successful journey in last year’s IPL, Punjab Kings decided to axe 9 players from their squad, and those 9 were quite big names. The Likes of Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Maxwell and even David Miller were released.
It was quite evident that Punjab wanted to revamp the structure of their side and get rid of all non-performing players.
Released Players of Punjab Kings
Glenn Maxwell, Sheldon Cottrell, Mujeeb Zadran, Hardus Viljoen, James Neesham, Krishnappa Gowtham, Karun Nair, Jagadeesha Suchith and Tejinder Singh Dhillon.
Punjab Kings Retained Players IPL 2021
Punjab Kings retained 16 players in their side. The obvious retentions were of their Skipper KL Rahul, Universe Boss and T20 Legend Chris Gayle and Leader of the Pace Attack Mohammad Shami. Apart from these big guns, they also showed faith in emerging stars like Sarfaraz Khan, Ishan Porel and Ravi Bishnoi.
Punjab Kings Retained Players List:
KL Rahul, Arshdeep Singh, Chris Gayle, Darshan Nalkande, Harpreet Brar, Mandeep Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Mohd. Shami, M Ashwin, Nicholas Pooran, Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Ishan Porel, Ravi Bishnoi, Chris Jordan, and Prabhsimran Singh.
Punjab Kings New Players
The biggest new player to represent Punjab Kings would definitely be the No.1 Ranked T20I batsman, Dawid Malan. Malan has been impressive over the past two years in T20I Cricket, and that is exactly why he is the No.1 in the world. Apart from Malan, all eyes would be on Jhye Richardson who got a whopping deal amounting INR 14 crores to be a part of PKBS Squad in IPL 2021.
Punjab Kings New Players List
Jhye Richardson– AustraliaRiley Meredith– AustraliaDawid Malan– England- Shahrukh Khan – India
- Moises Henriques – Australia
- Jalaj Saxena – India
- Utkarsh Singh – India
- Saurabh Kumar – India
- Nathan Ellis – New Zealand
- Adil Rashid – England
- Aiden Markram – South Africa
Punjab Kings Overseas Players
Punjab Kings have got a mixture of Young and Veteran overseas players in their side. The experience being brought into this lineup by Dawid Malan, Chris Gayle and Chris Jordan will surely be beneficial for the side.
Then off course, the young blood in the form of Hard Hitting batsman Nicholas Pooran, tall Australian pacer Jhye Richardson, and Riley Meredith strengthens Punjab Kings even more.
PKBS Overseas Players List
- Fabian Allen, Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran are the West Indian players in IPL 2021 to complete PKBS players list.
- Moises Henriques,
Riley MeredithandJhye Richardsonare theAustralian cricketers in IPL 2021to complete Punjab Kings 2021 Squad. - Chris Jordan and
Dawid MalanAdil Rashid are the two Englishmen in IPL 2021 for PKBS. - New Zealand’s Nathan Ellis came in as a replecement player.
- South Africa’s Aiden Markram also comes in to play in UAE leg.
Punjab Kings Team 2021
PKBS Captain
KL Rahul will lead Punjab Kings in IPL. The wicket-keeper batsman had a phenomenal season last year as he was the orange cap winner (which was awarded to player with most runs in IPL year).
Although he scored 670 runs, but his team still failed to qualify for the Playoffs stages and that is something for Rahul to rectify. Rahul’s winning percentage is under 50, which is poorer than many other captains of Punjab Kings and he will surely look to improve it in the upcoming season.
PKBS Batsmen
Beginning the innings with classy players like KL Rahul and Chris Gayle, Punjab Kings have quite a strong batting line-up. The No.1 T20I batsmen Dawid Malan provide them a lot of stability in their lineup, and on their day, Punjab Kings can destroy any bowling attack. The addition of the hard-hitting batsman Nicholas Pooran strengthens their lower order too.
Punjab Kings Batsmen List
- KL Rahul
- Mayank Agarwal
- Chris Gayle
- Nicholas Pooran
Dawid MalanAiden Markram- Sarfraz Khan
- Shahrukh Khan
PKBS Bowlers
With Mohammad Shami and Jhye Richardson as their frontline pacers, KBS might have got the deadliest pace attack in IPL 2021. Jhye’s whopping 14 crores Price tag itself reveals how good he is with the ball in the shortest format of the game.
Chris Jordan is another name worth mentioning here as he is a death over specialist and he could really control the scoring rate in the final few overs. The spin attack of Punjab Kings isn’t that extra-ordinary as compared to their pace attack.
Who knows this IPL season will be a breakthrough season for young leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi and he can play his part in turning the fortunes of PKBS 2021 team.
Punjab Kings Bowlers list
- Mohammad Shami
Jhye Richardson- Murugan Ashwin
- Arshdeep Singh
- Harpreet Brar
- Chris Jordan
- Darshan Nalkande
- Ishan Porel
- Ravi Bishnoi
- Nathan Ellis
- Adil Rashid
PKBS All Rounders
Punjab Kings have majorly invested in emerging all rounders this season. Although they have some experience in the form of Moises Henriques and Mandeep Singh, but mostly there are young all rounders in their side.
Punjab Kings All Rounders List
- Mandeep Singh
- Moises Henriques
- Jalag Saxena
- Utkarsh Singh
- Saurabh Kumar
Riley Meredith- Mandeep Singh
- Deepak Hooda
- Fabian Allen
PKBS Wicket Keepers
The Biggest blessing for Punjab Kings is that their captain can keep wickets as well. KL Rahul saves an extra spot as he can keep and bat well too. With Rahul being the first wicket keeper choice, Punjab Kings have got Prabhsimran Singh as backup wicket keeper option in the side.
West Indian Nicholas Pooran is another one who can keep wickets if needed and have done this job regularly in T20 cricket.
PKBS Captains
Over the years there have been 12 different captains of Punjab Kings. Some of the all time greats like, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Yuvraj Singh and Adam Gilchrist have led Punjab Kings, although none of them have reached the podium in the past to win the IPL trophy.
Punjab Kings Captains List:
| Player | Span | Matches | Won | Lost | Tie | NR | Percentage |
| Yuvraj Singh | 2008-2009 | 29 | 17 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 58.62 |
| Kumar Sangakarra | 2010-2010 | 13 | 03 | 09 | 1 | 0 | 26.92 |
| Mahela Jayawardene | 2010-2010 | 01 | 0 | 01 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Adam Gilchrist | 2011-2013 | 34 | 17 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| David Hussey | 2012-2013 | 12 | 06 | 06 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| George Bailey | 2014-2015 | 35 | 18 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 51.42 |
| Virender Sehwag | 2015-2015 | 01 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 50.00 |
| David Miller | 2016-2016 | 06 | 01 | 05 | 0 | 0 | 16.66 |
| Murali Vijay | 2016-2016 | 08 | 03 | 05 | 0 | 0 | 37.50 |
| Glenn Maxwell | 2017-2017 | 14 | 07 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | 2018-2019 | 28 | 12 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 42.85 |
| KL Rahul | 2020-2021 | 14 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 42.85 |
