Three players that Punjab Kings (PBKS) may release before IPL 2023

Punjab Kings finished 6th in league stage for the third time in IPL tournament.

The Punjab Kings (PBKS) continued to perform indifferently for yet another IPL season as they finished in the 6^th spot in the IPL 2022 tournament with 7 wins from 14 matches and 14 points and couldn’t make it into the playoffs.

This was the third straight time, PBKS finished 6^th in the league stage, though this time they had a new captain in Mayank Agarwal, who was retained by them along with Arshdeep Singh before the IPL 2022 auction.

PBKS had splurged quite a bit of money in the IPL 2022 auction on players such as Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Kagiso Rabada, Odean Smith, and domestic talents like Rishi Dhawan, Jitesh Sharma, Vaibhav Arora, and Raj Bawa amongst others.

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However, as admitted by skipper Mayank himself, PBKS failed to win matches in a row and throughout the tournament, they won one game and lost one game for the most part of it.

While many players performed for them as per reputation and PBKs even unearthed some amazing talent, many of the players on whom they had high hopes failed to come good in IPL 2022.

Keeping this in mind, Team COC presents to you the three players that PBKS might release ahead of the IPL 2023 tournament.

SANDEEP SHARMA

Member of the 2012 U19 World cup winning Indian team, Sandeep Sharma is a veteran in the IPL tournament with 104 matches to his name. He has played for Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad with distinction and has 114 wickets overall.

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In the last three editions of the IPL, he has managed 14 wickets in 2020- 3 wickets in 7 matches in 2021 for Sunrisers Hyderabad and was released before IPL 2022 auction. PBKS bought him, but he could manage only 2 wickets in 5 matches in IPL 2022 and was benched.

Due to his lack of pace and if the conditions don’t offer any swing, Sandeep Sharma becomes a sitting duck for batters to smash, making him expensive. PBKS might let go of Sandeep to make space and funds for faster bowlers.

ODEAN SMITH

West Indies' Odean Smith was once compared with Andre Russell in terms of hitting abilities and all-rounder capabilities thanks to his outing against India for West Indies earlier this year. He impressed with his ability to hit big shots and bowl at a decent pace.

Much was expected of him when PBKS bought him for INR 6 crores in the IPL 2022 auction.

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However, it was not to be as Odean Smith in 6 matches, made 56 runs with the highest score of 25*, and picked 6 wickets with a best of 4/30, but at an eye-watering expensive economy of 11.86.

Smith was also crucified after he was hit for 2 sixes in the last 2 balls while defending 12 runs on those deliveries by Gujarat Titans’ Rahul Tewatia, resulting in PBKS losing a match that they should have won.

SHAHRUKH KHAN

Shahrukh Khan was part of the victorious Tamil Nadu team which won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2020-21 and 2021-22 and was impressive enough to get an IPL deal with Punjab Kings in IPL 2021. He showed a glimpse of his talent with 153 runs at a strike rate of 134.21. 

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Much was expected of him, when PBKS bought him back in the IPL 2022 auction for a whopping INR 9 crores. He was a first-choice pick for PBKS initially but failed to provide the explosive finishes that he was capable of.

In all, he played 8 matches and scored 117 runs at a strike rate of 108.23, though he hit 9 sixes in his outings. In the end, PBKS opted to have Jitesh Sharma as their finisher who did a better job with 234 runs in 12 matches at a strike rate of 163.34.