What has changed in the latest cycle for Punjab Kings?
According to the old Greek proverb, “Change is the only constant in life,” and the Punjab Kings of the Indian Premier League are a prime example of this. The team has had 16 different leaders since the league’s founding, and as IPL 2025 draws near, a 17th will lead. The Kings are eager to end the trend after missing out on the playoffs since finishing second in 2014. In an effort to succeed, they have restructured their team, invested heavily in Shreyas Iyer, the captain who won the championship the previous season, and hired Ricky Ponting as head coach to lead the group to a turnaround.
Only two players, Shashank Singh and Prabhsimran Singh, were retained by Kings before to the auction; they were both uncapped. Despite spending INR 26.75 crore on Iyer, the second-highest purchase in IPL history, this move gave them the greatest purse of any team, enabling them to make high-profile acquisitions. In addition to Marcus Stoinis (INR 11 crore), Marco Jansen (INR 7 crore), Glenn Maxwell (INR 4.2 crore), and Nehal Wadhera (INR 4.2 crore), they were able to get Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal for INR 18 crore apiece. To ensure a well-rounded team in every sector, they also made a number of wise value acquisitions, including Josh Inglis, Lockie Ferguson, Harpreet Brar, and Vijaykumar Vyshak, to mention a few.
The Kings’ best result in the previous 11 years was fifth place in 2017. extremely the final two seasons, when they finished eighth and ninth with 17 losses in 28 games, made the 2022–24 cycle extremely forgettable. They have a proven leader, though, with Iyer leading the team. Iyer is a captain who recently won titles with Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and KKR in the IPL. Additional layers of stability are added by his previous working connection with head coach Ricky Ponting and the inclusion of successful players in the lineup, giving Kings new optimism as they begin yet another fresh start.
Complete Squad
Josh Inglis, Aaron Hardie, Azmatullah Omarzai, Priyansh Arya, Pyla Avinash, Xavier Bartlett, Pravin Dubey, Lockie Ferguson, Musheer Khan, Kuldeep Sen, Suryansh Shedge, Harnoor Singh, Yash Thakur, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Vishnu Vinod, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Nehal Wadhera, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Nehal Wadhera, Marco Jansen, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Josh Inglis, Aaron Hardie, Azmatullah Omarzai
Support employees:Head coach Ricky Ponting, assistant coach Brad Haddin, fast-bowling coach James Hopes, spin-bowling coach Sunil Joshi, deputy bowling coach Trevor Gonsalves, and strength and conditioning coach Adrian Le Roux
Right now, the finest XII
Shreyas Iyer (c), Glenn Maxwell, Shashank Singh, Nehal Wadhera/Suryansh Shedge, Marco Jansen, Harpreet Brar, Lockie Ferguson, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Priyansh Arya, and Marcus Stoinis
Issues with availability and injury
Due to an injury sustained to his foot during a warm-up game, Lockie Ferguson was just disqualified from the Champions Trophy. A medical evaluation followed, and he was taken back to New Zealand for rehabilitation. Ferguson also had hamstring injuries during the ILT20.
The individual who has a point to prove is…
Iy Shreyas The captain who has won a championship is rarely left off of that team for the following season. After releasing him previously, the Kolkata Knight Riders placed the first bid for him during the auction, but they were unsuccessful. PBKS defeated the Delhi Capitals in order to sign Iyer. The previous captain of KKR, who went on to win the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with Mumbai, would be eager to repeat the feat for Kings and lead them to the coveted IPL trophy.
Could this player have a breakthrough season?
Maxwell, Glenn.Maxwell had a love-hate connection with the Punjab team, and he last played for them in 2020. By the way, Maxwell had a fantastic season, scoring over 500 runs with a strike rate of 187.76, the last time Punjab made it to the playoffs. Maxwell has played in 22 T20 innings since the end of the previous IPL, scoring nearly 700 runs at an average of little under 40 and hitting nearly 170.
Run-in and fixture build-up…
The Kings have an early six-day break in the season after their March 25 opening match against Gujarat Titans, and will only play their first home game on April 5, two weeks after the IPL starts. With two away games and two home games scheduled from April 12 to 18, they have a full schedule in mid-April. After that, their schedule is dispersed, with the squad moving to Dharamsala for their final three home games, which will be played consecutively before their final league game, which will be played away in Jaipur.
A home ground statistic to keep an eye on this season
14.28 That is Punjab Kings’ home win % since 2023, which is the lowest of any IPL side; RR’s is the second-lowest at 42.85. Kings obviously don’t have a home advantage. They have only triumphed once in five tries in Mullanpur, and after four games since 2023, they have lost in Dharamsala. Can they change the course?
