At the start of the IPL 2021 season, Kings XI Punjab renamed the team name to Punjab Kings. Nevertheless, this did not affect their fate, as they failed to make it to the top four. The KL Rahul-led side ended sixth on the scoring average in IPL 2021, as their ambition of winning their first IPL title stays a faraway one. The club has spent a lot of money on reputable players in recent years with little gain. As the 15th series of the IPL begins, their pursuit of the coveted crown resumes. Punjab Kings secured only two players ahead of the IPL 2022 big auction: Mayank Agarwal and Arshdeep Singh. They called it quits with KL Rahul, who had indicated a desire to participate in the bidding pool.
Furthermore, in this piece, we focus on five lesser-known cricketers that have played briefly for the club.
Karun Nair
Nair began his IPL journey with the Rajasthan Royals until moving on to the Punjab Kings. He fought for his spot on the team. Because of the dominance of Glenn Maxwell and David Miller in the top order, he struggled to get a slot. In total, he appeared in four IPL 2020 matches, getting only 16 hits to finish off a poor tournament.
Jimmy Neesham
Neesham was yet another cricketer who devoted a proportion of time with the team on the bench. He was a good investment for the club considering their international possibilities, but he did not get a spot throughout the side due to the team’s balance. In the five games he contested in the IPL 2020 season, Neesham scored 19 runs and took two wickets at a very good average of 9.86. He was signed by the Mumbai Indians for the IPL 2021 season, although he struggled to secure a spot in the Lineup there as well.
Ravi Bopara
Bopara’s time with the Kings was sporadic. In 2009, he made his first appearance with the club. In 2010, he reemerged for the team, appearing in 10 games and scoring around 250 runs. Overall, he appeared in 15 matches for the guys in grey and pink, hitting three fifties at a 25-point average. He last appeared for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL in 2015.
Stuart Broad
Broad was recruited by the club before the IPL 2012, however, he did not play. After suffering a side injury during the World Cup, the 25-year-old was unable to make his IPL debut for Kings XI last year. Punjab skipper Adam Gilchrist afterward described his departure as a “great loss” for the team.
Simon Katich
Katich appeared with the Punjab Kings in 2008, competing in 11 games. He batted for the Kings XI Punjab for 241 runs at a strike rate of 129, with two half-centuries. Katich was among the team’s senior figures and also served as an advisor. That was his lone IPL season before moving on to coach the IPL, first with KKR and later with RCB. In IPL 2022, he will join the training team of the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
