Punjab Kings (PBKS) wanted to start with a clean slate; they made that clear during the IPL franchise owners and BCCI office bearers meeting in July. That’s one of the reasons why they wanted fewer retentions for the IPL 2025 season. So, despite having the chance to retain half a dozen players, they probably won’t seal 6 spots in their 25-man squad ahead of the mega auction. Shikhar Dhawan, their captain last season, has retired from cricket and won’t feature in the league anymore. This further helps them to hit the restart button, as they last made the playoffs in 2014.
PBKS, like other franchises, will have Rs 120 crore in their IPL 2025 auction purse and can retain a maximum of 6 players, whether through the regular retention option or RTM (Right to Match) cards. Like some other teams, PBKS doesn’t have those big stars. So, they won’t probably spend Rs 79 crores for 6 players, as the retention order (18, 14, 11, 18, 14, 4) suggests.
PBKS retention list for IPL 2025
Retention No. 1 (Rs 18 crore) – Arshdeep Singh
Retention No. 2 (Rs 14 crore) – Sam Curran
Retention No. 3 (Rs 11 crore) – Kagiso Rabada
Retention No. 4 (Rs 4 crore) (uncapped) – Ashutosh Sharma
Retention No. 5 (Rs 4 crore) (uncapped) – Shashank Singh
Retention No. 6 (RTM) – Depending upon team permutations and combinations during the mega auction
Purse left (assuming minimum amount is spent) – Rs 69 crores
Top 3 retentions: Arshdeep, Curran & Rabada
Looking at the current 25-man squad, only three players look like the ‘confirmed’ retention options. Arshdeep Singh is their second-highest wicket-taker of all time and one of the best T20 bowlers right now. The left-arm pacer is one of the very few pacers who’s proficient in both the powerplay and the death. Arshdeep is undoubtedly their best player, and PBKS won’t let him go to the auction table.
Sam Curran couldn’t justify his Rs 18.5 crore tag in IPL 2023 and 2024. Nonetheless, he’s one of the very few T20 fast bowling all-rounders who possess the ability to bowl in all phases of the game. He may not be the first pick but can easily be the second. A player like him can easily fetch around Rs 15 crore in the auction, so retaining him shouldn’t be difficult for PBKS. Kagiso Rabada goes for runs but gets you wickets as well. Having him alongside Curran and Arshdeep would mean that your fast bowling is set.
Uncapped: Ashutosh Sharma & Shashank Singh
If age weren’t a barrier, Shashank Singh would probably win the IPL Emerging Player award. He was PBKS’ highest scorer in the 2024 season. Picked ‘by mistake’, the move eventually turned out to be a masterstroke. He averages 44 while striking at nearly 165. If anyone deserves to be retained as an uncapped player, it’s him.
Deciding on the second uncapped retention was much more difficult. You had Prabhsimran Singh, Harpreet Brar and Ashutosh Sharma fighting for the spot. But, in the end, you might have to pick Ashutosh. Brar started incredibly, but the tail-end of the IPL 2024 season wasn’t great. Prabhsimran was great, but he’s more boom or bust, which you may not want from your opener. Ashutosh meanwhile bailed PBKS out a couple of times, and finding great Indian finishers is harder than finding openers, so he’ll get the nod.
1 RTM, 8 players
Matthew Short, Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Nathan Ellis, Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar—PBKS can use their one remaining RTM card on any of these players. That’ll depend on who they want. For example, if they want one overseas opener and they get someone for Rs 5 crore, they probably won’t be their RTM card on Bairstow or Short.
Punjab Kings’ Current Squad
Matthew Short, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Sikandar Raza, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Arshdeep Singh, Nathan Ellis, Sam Curran, Kagiso Rabada, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Vidwath Kaverappa, Shivam Singh, Harshal Patel, Chris Woakes, Ashutosh Sharma, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Shashank Singh, Tanay Thyagarajann, Prince Choudhary, Rilee Rossouw.
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