To be at the best in the tournament, an Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise needs to assemble the best possible squad. It makes the IPL auction very important for the franchises which ultimately impacts their on-field performance. 

Often Punjab Kings (PBKS) have looked clueless in the auction with no planning, as to which player to add for a good balance in the squad. Going after players with identical roles, or overpaying a player have been some of the issues with them.

Former IPL auctioneer Richard Madley spoke on PBKS' auction strategy which always surprised him. India spinner and ex-PBKS captain R Ashwin had invited him to speak on his YouTube channel.

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"I never knew what was going to happen. I had no idea who they were going to bid for. When they were going. Where there were going to finish. I am not sure they did either. A strategy, if there was one, was kept so secret that not even the person holding the necessarily seem to know.

"But it made it interesting. It made it fun. It enabled me the auctioneer to have people to participate with. I am up on stage for eight and half hours, I have the nation watching him. I want something to happen. In some ways, I liked some controversy or some feedback because I am looking to transact with those team owners," Madley, who was an IPL auctioneer till 2018, said.

Punjab have retained only 2 players ahead of IPL 2022 mega-auction. Mayank Agarwal is the first retention at INR 12 Crore, while uncapped bowler Arshdeep Singh will be paid a sum of INR 4 Crore.