As Punjab Kings have changed their name from Kings X1 Punjab they might be looking to change their fortune as they are among one of the few sides in the history of IPL who have not lifted the IPL trophy till date.

Whereas on the other hand Rajasthan Royals have sacked their last year skipper Steven Smith and appointed Sanju Samson as their new skipper it will be interesting to see that how Kerala lad will lead the side in the upcoming mega event scheduled in 2021.

With Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals left with 53.2 crores and 37.85 crores in their kitty ahead of the ongoing IPL auctions 2021.

KL Rahul led side will be eager to lift the title this year and with the likes of Chris Gayle,Nicholas Pooran and Mohammad Shami. They put up a disastrous performance in last year IPL in first half of the game but made a remarkable comeback in the second half but at the end were not good to register their spot in the playoffs of IPL 2020.

Punjab has the highest purse going into the auction and it seems a tough ask to build a perfect squad for them this year.

Players retained –

KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Prabhsimran Singh, Mohammed Shami, Chris Jordan, Darshan Nalkande, Ravi Bishnoi, Murugan Ashwin, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Ishan Porel

Released players:

Glenn Maxwell, Karun Nair, Hardus Viljoen, Jagadeesha Suchith, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Sheldon Cottrell, Jimmy Neesham, Krishnappa Gowtham, Tajinder Singh.

Purse remaining: Rs 53.2 crores

With the team that they have retained in the playing X1 they will be ideally looking for an experienced Indian/overseas fast bowler who can compliment Mohammad Shami really well on the other end also an all rounder who can bring overall stability in their squad in terms of their batting or bowling is concerned.

Players purchased from the auction: Dawid Malan, Jhye Richardson , Shahrukh Khan, Riley Meredith, Moises Henriques, Jalaj Saxena, Utkarsh Singh, Fabian Allen and Saurabh Kumar

Overall analysis of the squad: The squad looks better as compare to the last season as they lacked a middle order batsman last season so the players like Dawid Malan and Shahrukh Khan can handle the middle order responsibility really well. However the ample overseas players will give them better options to explore their bowlers based on situations. However it will be interesting to see whether players like Moises Henriques can play the role of attacking all rounder depending on the situations.