3 Punjab Kings (PBKS) players who might not get enough matches in IPL 2021
Punjab Kings (PBKS) are only one of the three IPL franchises to yet win the IPL. The franchise have never even managed to reach the IPL playoffs in the past six seasons, with their last appearance coming way back in 2014. During that season, PBKS had their best ever year, where they reached the finals, losing to Kolkata Knight Riders in a thrilling finale.
A lot of players were released by the club prior to the auction and as a result, several new names feature in this year’s squad. Punjab Kings will have to work on finding the best balance of their team early in the competition, something which they had failed to do last season, when they finished on the sixth spot.
Punjab Kings full squad for IPL 2021
KL Rahul, Arshdeep Singh, Chris Gayle, Darshan Nalkande, Harpreet Brar, Mandeep Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Mohammad Shami, Murugan Ashwin, Nicholas Pooran, Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Ishan Porel, Ravi Bishnoi, Chris Jordan, Prabhsimran Singh, Jhye Richardson, Riley Meredith, Shahrukh Khan, Moises Henriques, Dawid Malan, Fabian Allen, Jalaj Saxena, Saurabh Kumar and Utkarsh Singh
Also Read: 3 Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) Players Who Might Not Get Enough Matches In IPL 2021
Fabian Allen
Fabian Allen
Fabian Allen was bought by Punjab Kings in the recently concluded auction. This will be his debut season in the cash rich league. However, he is expected to remain on the bench for majority of the season, given that the franchise has three overseas spots sealed. Nicholas Pooran, Jhye Richardson and either of Chris Jordan and Riley Meredith will feature in the starting eleven.
The last overseas spot will go to either Chris Gayle or Dawid Malan with Moises Henriques waiting to grab his opportunity. The presence of the Australian all-rounder at the franchise makes it even more difficult for Allen to break into the starting eleven.
Ishan Porel
Ishan Porel
Ishan Porel is expected to remain on the bench this season and he will primarily operate as Mohammed Shami’s backup at Punjab Kings. Arshdeep Singh is another talented bowler in the Punjab Kings’ squad and he is expected to get more matches than Porel, given the small amount of experience he has accumulated in the past few seasons. The acquisition of two Australian bowlers at the auction made it very clear that the team management will go in with atleast two overseas pacers.
Ishan Porel has played 19 T20s in his career so far and has picked up 29 wickets at an average of 15.82. The 22 year old is a talented bowler and is most likely to get atleast a few chances to prove his quality.
Moises Henriques
Moises Henriques returns to the IPL after three years
Moises Henriques will play his first IPL season since 2017, and he has decent amount of IPL experience. He has played 57 matches so far, scoring 969 runs at an average of 28.50. He has also been impressive with the ball, picking up 38 wickets at an average of 32.73.
However, Punjab Kings’ team balance will see him spending most of the time on the bench. The franchise is expected to allocate two overseas spots each to batsman and bowlers. In this case, Henriques will be unfortunate to miss out on a spot in the starting eleven, given that the franchise does have Indian all-rounders as options.