Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra analyzed the performance of Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the recent IPL 2023 auction and was left with a few questions about their strategy ahead of the next year’s tournament.
In the auction held on December 23 at Kochi, Punjab Kings picked Sam Curran (INR 18.50 crore), Sikandar Raza (INR 50 lakh), Harpreet Bhatia (INR 40 lakh), Vidwath Kaverappa (INR 20 lakh), Mohit Rathee (INR 20 lakh) and Shivam Singh (INR 20 lakh).
Before the auction, PBKS retained five overseas players -- Jonny Bairstow, Kagiso Rabada, Liam Livingstone, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, and Nathan Ellis -- from last year's squad. However, this makes only 7 foreigners in their squad and despite a purse of INR 12.95 crore remaining with them, they opted not to pick another foreigner and complete their squad.
Chopra questioned the PBKS for not selecting their full quota of overseas players.
"If anyone had the money to spend after Hyderabad, it was the Punjab Kings. They have kept a 22-member squad, you can keep 25, with seven overseas. They should have kept one more overseas player. I understand that COVID is behind us but you should have a contingency plan. Did they miss a trick?
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They bought Sam Curran. They got Sikandar Raza very cheap, at the base price. To be fair, they didn't spend much other than Sam Curran and Sikandar Raza. Sam Curran was definitely very expensive and then Harpreet Bhatia, Kaverappa, Mohit Rathee, Shivam Singh - not really much,” Chopra said in a video on his YouTube channel.
Apart from this, Chopra also talked about PBKS’ strategy of removing Anil Kumble as their head coach and replacing him with Trevor Bayliss ahead of the IPL 2023. He felt that if PBKS didn’t make many changes to their squad or overhauled it, it meant Kumble had picked the correct players.
He said: "If you (PBKS) have not made changes, it means Anil Kumble had made the right team. You had done a good squad selection, just had to do a little tweaking and not wholesale changes, Trevor Bayliss felt like that. So why was Kumble removed? I am just wondering."
The IPL 2023 is expected to begin in early April next year.
(IANS inputs)
