It was another season for Punjab Kings where they failed to reach the playoffs stage as they finished sixth on the points table. Punjab Kings, who were earlier named Kings XI Punjab, managed to qualify for the playoffs only twice in 15 seasons – 2008 and 2014. The entered the season with a fresh squad after off-loading many of their players. They retained just two players Mayank Agarwal and Arshdeep Singh before the auction and named the former as their skipper.
Punjab did some smart business during the IPL 2022 auction by recruiting Liam Livingstone, Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow, Kagiso Rabada and Rahul Chahar on their side. However, they failed to put up a collective show to finish the season in the top 4. They lacked consistency in their performances and failed to win back to back matches to stamp any authority on the points table.
IPL FULL COVERAGE , SCHEDULE , RESULTS , ORANGE CAP , PURPLE CAP
IPL 2022 Record: Played: 14; Won: 74; Lost: 7; Standing: 6th
High point of the Season
It was the first match of their campaign which was the high point of their season and it turned out that they peaked a bit early and then fell flat. PBKS faced Faf du Plessis’s Royal Challengers Bangalore and captain Mayank won the toss and elected to bowl first. Things didn’t go as planned for them with the ball as RCB posted a mammoth 205/2 on the scoreboard courtesy of Faf du Plessis (88), Virat Kohli (41*) and Dinesh Karthik’s (32*) valuable knocks. It looked like a daunting task from the outside to chase down the target but for Punjab, it was not that much difficult. They chased down the target while batting with a fearless approach and RCB failed to contain them. There was not any big knock from any batter but almost all of them collectively put up a show to chase down the target with an over to spare. Shikhar Dhawan and Bhanuka Rajapaksa were the top scorers with a 43-run knock from each of them. However, after that match, they failed to put up such kinds of performances on regular basis.
Low point of the Season
Match number 32 of the season was a low point of the season for Punjab as they suffered a hammering from neighbors Delhi Capitals. Rishabh Pant won the toss and elected to bowl and his bowlers proved the decision right. It was a horrible batting performance from Punjab batters as they let their guard down without giving much fight. The collective efforts of Delhi bowlers bundled out a star-studded Punjab line-up to just 115. Khaleel Ahmed, Lalit Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel claimed two-wicket each as Punjab kept losing wickets at regular intervals. The bowlers didn’t have much to defend but they gave up too early in the game when Prithvi Shaw and David Warner took the charge of them in the initials. Delhi won the match by 9 wickets in just 10.3 overs to stamp their authority over them.
Captaincy Verdict
It was the first time when Mayank Agarwal was appointed as a full-time captain of the franchise. He has led the Punjab side in the previous seasons when KL Rahul was absent but this time the team was built to support him in the quest to win the maiden title. Unfortunately, things didn’t turn out well for Punjab and they finished the season at the sixth spot. Mayank was impressive with his bowling changes and his field placements as he used to save his bowlers for the right moment. For eg. In the match against Chennai when things were going the opposition way, Mayank brought Arshdeep Singh and Kagiso Rabada into the attack a bit early to stabilize things. 47 runs were needed from the last four overs and Chennai had a well set Ambati Rayudu in the middle alongside Ravindra Jadeja but Mayank used his bowlers well to contain them and emerge victoriously. However, he failed to lead the team from the front with the bat as he scored just 196 runs in 13 matches.
Most valuable player
Liam Livingstone – Punjab Kings paid a hefty price of INR 11.5 crore to sign the English all-rounder and it worked out quite well for them. Livingstone was one of the only batters who showed some consistency for Punjab this season. It was his best IPL season personally as he slammed 437 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 182.08. He slammed 34 sixes and stamped his authority over the bowlers with his batting prowess. He was also handy with the ball and claimed 6 wickets this season.
Major disappointment
Shahrukh Khan: The Tamil Nadu power-hitter was released by Punjab before the auction but they went again for him in the bidding and bought him for an even more expensive price. He was re-signed for a whopping INR 9 crore but failed to live up to the expectations. Shahrukh was given regular chances in the initial matches but he failed to deliver and was dropped from the XI, Punjab gave him another chance in his last game of the season to prove his worth but it didn’t work out. He finished the season with just 117 runs in 8 matches at an average of 16.71.
Season verdict
Punjab Kings played an aggressive brand of cricket this season with the bat which didn’t work out for them on a regular basis. They won some high-octane clashes but in the end, fell short to reach the playoffs. The bowlers did their job quite well as young pacer Arshdeep Singh was the standout performer as captain Mayank often praised him for standing up and taking the responsibility to bowl the difficult overs. He got a very skilled and experienced partner in Kagiso Rabada who had another good season with 23 wickets. The spinners also contributed well to the team. However, the batting department failed to complement the bowlers on several occasions. Star players including Mayank and Jonny Bairstow were very inconsistent throughout the season which put pressure on the others. Overall, the rejuvenation process was started at Punjab this season and it is still not completed yet.
Statistics
Most runs: Shikhar Dhawan – 460 runs
Most wickets: Kagiso Rabada – 23 wickets
Highest individual score: Shikhar Dhawan – 88* vs Chennai Super Kings
Best bowling figures: Odean Smith – 4/30 vs Mumbai Indians
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