IPL 2023: Best Starting playing XI of Punjab Kings (PBKS) after mini auction

Punjab Kings (PBKS) have been the most inconsistent team in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as they are the only team (since 2008) that qualified for the playoff stage only a couple of times in their 15 seasons of the tournament. Despite having immense experience and quality players, they struggled to advance to the playoff round in the last edition too. Under their new skipper Mayank Agarwal, they tried to deliver something impactful in the competition. However, of 14 games, with seven victories and an equal number of defeats, they left the competition on dismal note. 

In November last year, the franchise released some players which included some important names such as Odean Smith, Sandeep Sharma, and Mayank Agarwal too who couldn’t do wonders with his bat and captaincy. At the mini-auction, they participated with their remaining purse of INR 32.2 crore in which they spent more than a half sum on Sam Curran. Acquiring the English all-rounder at a hefty price of 18.5 crore, the Kings grabbed a lot of attention. Now, in the 2023 season, they will expect the youngster to be influential with both bat and ball to help the Kings lift their first trophy. Along with Curran, they also roped in some young Indian cricketers who are influential in the domestic circuit. Talking more about that here are-

Starting playing XI of Punjab Kings (PBKS) after IPL 2023 mini-auction

1. Jonny Bairstow

Jonny Bairstow has won a lot of games for England with his aggressive batting attitude. Appearing for Punjab Kings (PBKS) for the first time in the last edition, Jonny Bairstow delivered a couple of half-centuries in which one came against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in a winning cause. However, his overall performance was below-par as he could amass 253 runs in 11 matches at a strike rate of 144.57.

Despite failing to do well for the team, Punjab believed in the English cricketer by retaining him for the upcoming edition. Last year, he played only three T20Is and scored 147 runs at a strike rate of 141.34. He couldn’t participate in T20 World Cup 2022 due to a freak injury which he got while playing golf.

In the initial months of 2023, he might make a comeback in international cricket which is positive news for Punjab Kings. His presence will be vital for his IPL franchise also to vitalise the batting line-up. So far, he has featured in 39 IPL games and notched up 1,291 runs at a sensational strike rate of 142.65.