IPL 2022, Punjab Kings squad, fixtures & more: Can Mayank Agarwal and Co find elusive playoffs spot?

It’s been eight years since Punjab Kings reached the playoffs of the Indian Premier League. Seven seasons in a row without a top four finish in the league stage. In fact, having competed in every season since the inaugural edition of the T20 tournament, the Punjab team has reached the playoffs just twice.

It’s been a long wait for supporters of the franchise and with a new-look team after the mega auction, expectations will be high this time around.

Mayank Agarwal will be leading the side this season and the right-hander, along with head coach Anil Kumble, has a number of quality players in the squad to work with. Punjab retained just two players – Agarwal and pacer Arshdeep Singh – before the auction, which was the fewest amongst all teams.

At the auction, PBKS made a number of quality signings in Kagiso Rabada, Liam Livingstone, Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow, Shahrukh Khan and Rahul Chahar.

History at the tournament

Squad

In terms of availability, there are two overseas players in the Punjab squad who will miss a bit of the action. Because of the ODI series in Bangladesh, South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada will miss Punjab’s first game this season. While England batter Jonny Bairstow will miss the first two games, and possibly the final in PBKS make it, due to international duty.

IPL Auction 2022, Punjab Kings review: Possible best XI, strengths and weaknesses

Full squad: Mayank Agarwal (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Prabhsimran Singh, Odean Smith, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Porel, Sandeep Sharma, Atharva Taide, Vaibhav Arora, Ansh Patel, Raj Angad Bawa, Benny Howell, Rishi Dhawan, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Baltej Singh, Writtick Chatterjee, Nathan Ellis, Prerak Mankad.

Most Valuable Player

Rabada is a seasoned IPL player now and has shown in the past that he can be effective with the new ball as well as at the death. Punjab’s bowling department seems to be lacking a bit of firepower, on paper at least, and a lot will depend on Rabada. There are some big names in the batting lineup and they will of course need to deliver but if Rabada finds his best, he could end up making the most significant contributions for the Punjab team this season.

Uncapped Indian to watch out for

One of the standout performers for India in their Under-19 World Cup-winning campaign earlier this year was Raj Angad Bawa. The all-rounder impressed with both bat and ball throughout that tournament and Punjab will be hoping he continues his good form in the IPL too. A right-arm pacer, Bawa bagged a five-for in the U19 World Cup final against England and was declared the player of the match. Not just that, the left-handed middle order batter even scored the tournament’s highest individual score – 162 not out at a strike rate of 150 against Uganda.

Quotes corner

PBKS coach Anil Kumble to Hindustan Times: “I think the brand of cricket we wanted to play; we have put together that sort of strategy. We are very happy to be able to get those kinds of players who naturally fit into that strategy rather than force somebody into playing that kind of a role. We looked at strategies to help us achieve the right result. Even when we picked the domestic players, we looked at the roles they could play and that clarity is very important in T20’s. At the end, you don’t just put together a squad for this year.”

Fixtures

Teams to play twice: DC, CSK, SRH, RCB, GT
Teams to play once: MI, KKR, RR, LSG