Punjab Kings are one of those sides in the tournament who shine the brightest for a while and they extinguish the fastest. One of their biggest problems has been that they are a team who plays well throughout the tournament and throughout the game but when the time comes to hold their nerve in crunch situations, they lose it all and lose matches even from comfortably winnable positions.
If you look at the history of the IPL, many players who have competed for the orange cap and even winners of the orange cap have been from Punjab Kings / Kings XI Punjab. But they have struggled to click together as a team. One of the biggest reasons for that has been that they have failed to find a good full-time captain. When they signed KL Rahul most people thought that it would put an end to their captaincy woes but that was not to be. He played brilliantly for them and put his heart and soul but somehow even that unit failed to perform as a team.
This year after a mega auction, they have made some big decisions and assembled a very bright squad with a very bright captain in Mayank Agarwal who has been delivering for them for a while. They have also managed to sign some proven match-winners like S Dhawan, K Rabada, J Bairstow, and Liam Livingstone. Now if these core players can come together and deliver for Punjab, expect them to have a good solid season and be one of the first teams to qualify for the play-offs.
Let us look at their expected playing XI and their strengths and squads of the Punjab Kings -
- Mayank Agarwal (C) - One of the highest run-scorers in the tournament in the past few seasons and someone who has been in good form, Mayank Agarwal will have a huge role to play as a captain for the Punjab Kings.
- Shikhar Dhawan - Shikhar Dhawan has been one of the highest run-scorers in the IPL for the last three seasons. He has been in magnificent form in the IPL and it is almost surprising how the Delhi Capitals even let him go after a season like that. Expect him to score a lot of runs for the Punjab Kings.
- Jonny Bairstow (WK) - He has been another very brilliant player in the IPL for the past few seasons and he has helped SRH win a lot of games. He has also been in very good form at the International level and expects him to come good and deliver for Punjab.
- Liam Livingstone - Few players in the world have been delivering so consistently in T20 leagues across the world as Liam Livingstone has. He is someone who can score a lot of runs and someone who scores them very quickly.
- Shahrukh Khan - Some regard him as one of the next big things in India as far as all-rounders are concerned. He can start hitting sixes from ball one and having a player like Shahrukh Khan helps the team in all three departments.
- Rishi Dhawan - Rishi Dhawan has a chance to make a huge name for himself and make this a breakthrough season for him by delivering for the Punjab Kings.
- Odean Smith - Odeon Smith has to justify the price the Punjab Kings have paid for him and they will be looking to make sure that he feels as comfortable as he can and hope that he can play fearlessly and deliver for them like Kieron Pollard has done for the Mumbai Indians over the years.
- Harpreet Brar - Harpreet Brar has been impressive and shown that he is a fine talent in whatever little chances he has got. He will be hoping to make this season a big one for Punjab.
- Kagiso Rabada - Kagiso Rabada is a name that needs no introduction and he is a player who Delhi Capitals might regret letting leave. He has been one of the most outstanding bowlers in World Cricket and at the IPL for quite some time now.
- Rahul Chahar - Punjab have taken a huge chance over Rahul Chahar and he will be hoping to do justice to that faith. He has done pretty well for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL so far and he will be hoping to continue the same form.
- Arshdeep Singh - One of the most impressive young Indian bowlers in recent times in the IPL. He was loved by everyone and all cricketing experts have backed this young lad and he is expected to have a hugely successful season.
Punjab Kings Squad IPL 2022:
Bhanuka Rjpaksa, Mayank Agarwal, Prerak Mankad, Shahrukh Khan, Shikhar Dhawan, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Jonny Bairstow (WK) & Prabsimran Singh (WK), Ansh Patel, Atharva Taide, Benny Howell, Harpreet Brar, Liam Livingstone, Odean Smith, Raj Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Vaibhav Arora & Writtick Chatterjee, Arshdeep Singh, Baltej Dhanda, Ishan Porel, Kagiso Rabada, Nathan Ellis, Sandeep Sharma & Rahul Chahar
Punjab Kings Playing 11 IPL 2022 (Suggested XI)
Mayank Agarwal (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow (WK), Liam Livingstone, Shahrukh Khan, Rishi Dhawan, Odean Smith, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar & Arshdeep Singh.