It proved to be another eventful day for Punjab Kings at the 2022 TATA Indian Premier League Mega Auction, as they added many more exciting Indian and overseas players to embellish their squad. The franchise zeroed in on bolstering their middle-order by picking up Liam Livingstone, Odean Smith and Raj Bawa.
Similar to yesterday, the very first player attracted attention from Punjab Kings, as they got into a bidding war with Aiden Markram. The latter however prevailed in that tussle, as Markram was roped in by Hyderabad. Punjab Kings though didn’t have to wait too long to open their account for the day, as they went all guns blazing for English all-rounder Liam Livingstone.
The 28-year-old was eyed by five franchises, getting his asking rate to skyrocket. Punjab Kings’ management though kept firm in their pursuits despite the competition, picking up Livingstone for a whopping 11.5 crores to make him the most expensive player of the day.
Next on the radar was India’s U19 World Cup sensation Raj Bawa, who was targeted by both Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings. The latter however priced out their opponents to bring Chandigarh’s local lad to his home state’s franchise. Seasoned IPL seamer Sandeep Sharma was next on the wishlist for PBKS, and he was roped in at base price of 50 lakhs.
In the session post the lunch interval, Punjab Kings made a few thrifty purchases as they roped in Vijay Hazare’s winning captain Rishi Dhawan, Saurashtra’s hard hitting batsman Prerak Mankad and youngsters Writtick Chatterjee and Ansh Patel. The team continued their approach of focusing on local talents and youth prospects, as they added Baltej Singh and Vaibhav Arora- two of their net bowlers from previous seasons.
In the final accelerated session, Punjab Kings wasted little time to finish up their squad as they added a few auxiliary overseas players. The franchise snapped up Nathan Ellis, Bhanuka Rajapaksha and Atharva Taide, further filling up their roster. The hard hitting English all rounder Benny Howell became the final addition to the franchise.
What do you make of the Punjab Kings squad for the 2022 IPL Season? Let us know in the comments below.
Punjab Kings 2022 squad: Mayank Agarwal, Arshdeep Singh, Shikhar Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada, Jonny Bairstow, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Ishan Porel, Liam Livingstone, Odean Smith, Raj Bawa, Prerak Mankad, Vaibhav Arora, Writtick Chatterjee, Baltej Singh, Ansh Patel, Rishi Dhawan, Nathan Ellis, Atharva Taide, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Benny Howell.
