IPL 2023 Auction: 3 Players Retained By Punjab Kings (PBKS) Who Would Have Gone Unsold In The Auction

Punjab Kings finished sixth in IPL 2022 winning seven and losing as many games. The management decided to name Shikhar Dhawan as the skipper of the franchise ahead of the next season. The previous skipper Mayank Agarwal was one of the nine players released by the franchise ahead of IPL 2023.

Punjab Kings have a remaining purse of 32.2 crores. They retained 16 players and now have to buy nine players three of which are overseas slots. Reportedly they are looking to buy Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, and Cameron Green in the upcoming mini-auction.

Punjab Kings have had over 13 captains in their IPL history. Shikhar Dhawan will be the 14th player to lead the Punjab franchise in the IPL. In his first season for the Kings, Dhawan scored 460 runs in 14 matches with an average of 38.33 and a strike rate of 122.66. In the last few IPL seasons, Dhawan has been the most consistent Indian batter.

Meanwhile, the franchise let go of its unused players. In this article, we take a look at three PBKS players who would have been unsold in the IPL 2023 auction had they been released.

IPL 2023 Auction: 3 Players Retained By Punjab Kings (PBKS) Who Would Have Gone Unsold In The Auction

Rishi Dhawan

The Himachal Pradesh all-rounder had almost become a forgotten name in Indian cricket circles after his debut for India in 2016. He played three ODIs and one T20I since his debut. He was now here to be seen in the IPL as well before Punjab picked him up for 55 lakhs in the IPL 2022 mega auction.

He played six games for Punjab picking up six wickets in the season. Before 2022, he made his last appearance in the IPL in 2016 for Punjab Kings back then. Aging 32, he would not be in the favor of franchises if he would have been released.

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Rahul Chahar

Chahar was released by Mumbai Indians after a good couple of seasons. He picked 41 wickets across three seasons for Mumbai before Punjab picked him up for a whopping 5.25 crores. He picked up 14 wickets for the franchise in his first season with them.

Despite his good performance with the franchise, the leg spinner is out of the Indian cricket team across all three formats. He played his last ODI in 2021. Chahar was a part of the Indian team in the 2021 T20 World Cup. He has been out of the Indian team since that tournament. Lack of cricket might be one of the reasons why he would have found himself unsold in the auctions later this year.

Prabhsimran Singh

The Punjab-based wicketkeeper batter was roped in by the franchise for 60 lakhs in the IPL 2022 mega auctions. However, he played just one match this year without scoring too many runs. He has been with the franchise since 2019 but has rarely been given a continued run because of the presence of international keeper-batters in the side.

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