PBKS Team IPL 2023: Auction Overview, Players Retained, Released, and New Players List

At the IPL 2023 mini-auction in Kochi, franchises spent big on all-rounders. Sam Curran became the most expensive player in the history of the cash-rich T20 league when Punjab Kings signed him for INR 18.5 crore. Punjab Kings broke the records for England all-rounder Sam Curran on Friday, kicking off the IPL 2023 mini-auction in Kochi with a bang. Sikandar Raza of Zimbabwe was the next-largest purchase for Punjab, costing INR 50 lakh.

With an almost blank slate and a massive budget of Rs 32.2 crore, PBKS will once more enter the IPL 2023 mini auction prepared to rebuild the team. Here is a list of the players on each franchise’s roster as of the 2023 IPL auction, along with their respective salaries:

The Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) franchise was founded in 2008 but has yet to claim a championship after 15 seasons. Punjab Kings finished as the season’s runner-up in 2014. Mayank Agarwal, the Punjab team’s captain from the previous season, has already been fired and discharged. Veteran India opener Shikhar Dhawan has replaced him. Despite only having captained PBKS for one game last year, Shikhar Dhawan will be the 14th captain in the team’s IPL history.

Sixteen players from the PBKS team who participated in the IPL 2022 kept their place. Among the top-performing foreign players kept by the team are Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, and Kagiso Rabada. Young players like Rahul Chahar, Prabhsimran Singh, Arshdeep Singh, Jitesh Sharma, and Harpreet Brar have also received support from the team management.

Mayank Agarwal was fired as captain after his batting average declined (to 196 runs in 12 innings), and his side finished sixth in the standings. Important pacers like Vaibhav Arora, Ishan Porel, and Sandeep Sharma were let go from the team.