Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Punjab Kings head coach Trevor Bayliss thinks the side had plugged in the few gaps in the current squad during the IPL player auction in Dubai. At the Coca-Cola Arena, Punjab roped in experienced capped players like Chris Woakes, Harshal Patel and Rilee Rossouw.
They also got in uncapped players like Ashutosh Sharma, Vishwanath Singh, Shashank Singh, Tanay Thyagarajan and Prince Choudhary. “We are delighted with the fact that we have got all our target players except a couple.”
“We had a few gaps in the current squad and are happy to have plugged them. We have a good core of young Indian players and look forward to working with them this season,” said Bayliss in a statement issued by the franchise.
Ashutosh is best known for hitting the fastest fifty by an Indian in a T20 game. He scored this in 11 balls against Arunachal Pradesh in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match in 2023, thus breaking the record of Yuvraj Singh.
On the other hand, Choudhary is a right-arm leg-break bowler, who was scouted by the Kings from the NCR region. Meanwhile, Vishwanath is an exciting talent from Punjab who impressed the side with his batting at the Under 25 level and the Sher E Punjab tournament.
“We had identified our gaps and the players we need to target. It’s always good when you have achieved most of what you set out to do. The most exciting part is the young Indian talent that we have. This should stand us in good stead over time,” said Sanjay Bangar, Head of Cricket Development, PBKS.
Punjab Kings IPL 2024 squad: Shikhar Dhawan, Harpreet Bhatia, Rilee Rossouw, Shashank Singh, Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Rishi Dhawan, Sam Curran, Sikandar Raza, Shivam Singh, Chris Woakes, Ashutosh Sharma, Vishwanath Singh, Tanay Thyagarajan, Harshal Patel, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Kagiso Rabada, Nathan Ellis, Rahul Chahar, Vidhwath Kaverappa and Prince Choudhary.