Punjab Kings

IPL 2023: Full Retained Players List and Purse left for Punjab Kings

INR 32.20 crores left as we look at the retained players list and purse details for Punjab Kings for IPL 2023. 

The explosive Punjab Kings made news even before they announced the official player retentions. After a below-par IPL 2022 where they finished sixth, the management decided to relieve Mayank Agarwal and Coach Anil Kumble from the Captaincy and coaching duties respectively.

Shikhar Dhawan was announced as the new Captain of the team for IPL 2023. Whereas Trevor Bayliss was announced as the new Coach of the team. The duo hail from the same team in the previous edition of the IPL, the Sunrisers Hyderabad.   

Another call that they should have made was to release Shahrukh Khan, who didn’t have a good IPL 2022 either. But since PBKS already released Mayank, they trusted Shahrukh to play the role of a finisher under a new leadership. Interesting to note that PBKS didn’t give enough chances to Shahrukh in 2022, and they may want to rectify that in 2023. 

Overall, PBKS retained a total of 16 players including a solid first-choice playing 11. This includes 1 batter, 4 wicket-keepers, 6 all-rounders, 4 pacers, and 1 spinner. The team retained a total of 5 overseas players, and 4 of them are supposedly sure-shot starters. So, here’s the official retained players list for Punjab Kings for IPL 2023.

IPL 2023 – Retained Players Details for Punjab Kings (PBKS):  

Shikhar Dhawan (C), Bhanuka Rajapaksa (o), Jitesh Sharma, Jonny Bairstow (o) & Prabsimran Singh, Atharva Taide, Harpreet Brar, Liam Livingstone (o), Raj Bawa, Rishi Dhawan & Shahrukh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Baltej Singh, Kagiso Rabada (o), Nathan Ellis (o) & Rahul Chahar

Total Players Retained: 16 // Purse Remaining: INR 30.20 Crores

Analyzing the squad, Punjab Kings have a good squad already in place. They do have a few gaps, but the good thing is that they have INR 30.20 crores to fill those gaps. Overall, the team needs 3-4 batters, 1-2 Indian pacers, and 1-2 spinners. Rest all seems sorted for Punjab Kings. 

Coming to the released players, Punjab released a total of 9 players including the big guns like Mayank Agarwal, Odean Smith, and Sandeep Sharma. Other than that, PBKS released young guns like Ansh Patel, Ishan Porel, Prerak Mankad, Vaibhav Arora, & Writtick Chatterjee. So, here’s the official released players list for Punjab Kings (PBKS) for IPL 2023.

IPL 2023 – Released Players Details for Punjab Kings (PBKS):

Ansh Patel, Benny Howell (o), Ishan Porel, Mayank Agarwal, Odean Smith (o), Prerak Mankad, Sandeep Sharma, Vaibhav Arora, & Writtick Chatterjee

Total Players Released: 9

Talking about the best playing 11 from retained players, Punjab Kings will see the former SRH openers, Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow open together in IPL 2023. With Mayank Agarwal not there in the middle-order, PBKS shall rely on Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Liam Livingstone, and Shahrukh Khan. 

The lower-order shall see the explosive Jitesh Sharma and all-rounders, Rishi Dhawan and Harpreet Brar. Meanwhile, the bowling shall rely upon Kagiso Rabada, emerging Arshdeep Singh, and spinner Rahul Chahar. Overall, this is a solid playing 11 with good players in each category. 

IPL 2023 – Best Playing 11 from Retained Players for Punjab Kings (PBKS):

Shikhar Dhawan (c), Jonny Bairstow, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Liam Livingstone, Shahrukh Khan, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Rishi Dhawan, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar & Arshdeep Singh.

Thanks for reading! What’s your take on the Punjab Kings (PBKS) player retention list for IPL 2023? Please email your thoughts to cric8fanatic@gmail.com


ALSO READ: IPL 2023: Full Retained Players List for Mumbai Indians (MI)


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Adesh Kothari

Adesh is an author at Cric8fanatic with over 20 years of experience following Cricket. Cricket to him is like what 'Football is to Lionel Messi', 'Singing is to Lata Mangeshkar', 'Dancing is to Michael Jackson', and what 'Acting is to Clint Eastwood'. Besides his effervescent love for Cricket, Adesh is an MBA by qualification.