A lot has changed for the Punjab team since last season’s disappointing performance in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Punjab Kings, as they are now called, will hope that a new name, a new logo and a new look will bring a change of fortune for the team. The last time, in 2014, the Punjab team qualified for the playoffs, having been runners-up. Since then, it has been getting tougher and his performance in the UAE last season was a reflection of the team’s travels in recent times. Despite being proud of some big names, Punjab only finished sixth in the IPL points table, scoring the same number of points (12) from two lower-ranked teams – Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals.
new faces
Punjab Kings adopted the strategy of ‘out with the old and out with the new’ for the IPL auction. He had the maximum budget among all the teams going to the auction, and was redeemed big time, with nine players being bought at a huge sum of Rs 47.90 crore.
The casualties were the likes of Glenn Maxwell, Jimmy Neesham and Mujib-ur-Rehman. Riley Meredith was bought for Rs 8 crore by Australian fast bowler Jhe Richardson for an eye-watering Rs 14 crore.
Shah Rukh Khan valued them at Rs 5.25 crore, while other notable names such as Moises Henriques, David Malan and Fabian Allen were also included.
old guard
Despite dropping a few big names from its roster, Punjab Kings managed to maintain a strong core group led by captain KL Rahul. Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda have renounced to name a few and will hope to repay the confidence shown by the team management on them.
Young stars like Darshan Nalkande, Ravi Bishnoi, Murugan Ashwin, Arshadip Singh, Harpreet Brar and Ishan Porel were also retained, but they would have a fight in their hands to get into the team before a new purchase.
Travel to punjab last year
Despite making a great start to the IPL 2020 – a super over loss to the Delhi Capitals in their opening game and a win over RCB in their second season – Punjab won most of the season.
They lost the next five matches defeating RCB again.
Promoted
The team was successful in winning four of their matches, including one victory by the Mumbai Indians, raising their hopes of reaching the playoffs. But the good work was undone when they failed to win their next two matches, which meant another finish outside the top four.
In total, the Punjab Kings were able to register only six wins, losing eight times.
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