Can Punjab Kings lay their hands on elusive IPL trophy?

We have done half the job at IPL auction, over to players to get us that elusive trophy, says Ness Wadia

Punjab Kings co-owner Ness Wadia feels they have done half the job by picking a "well-rounded" squad at the recent IPL auction and hopes the chosen players will do the rest to help the franchise bag the elusive trophy.

Punjab Kings have under-performed since IPL's inception, reaching the final only once in 14 attempts. They blew hot and cold in the last three seasons to end up sixth out of eight teams.

They went into the mega auction with the maximum purse of Rs 72 crore out of the 10 teams, which doesn't provide any guarantee for a successful buying spree due in a highly dynamic environment, but their decisions were largely lauded by the pundits.

"50% of the battle is getting the right team, which is what we've done. Now it's up to the players, coaches Anil (Kumble), Jonty (Rhodes) and Damien (Wright), to really take us to that elusive title we have been waiting for so long.

"Or at least a place in the top four play-offs because we have had a bad run the last four-five years," Wadia said.

Having retained only two players in Mayank Agarwal and young pacer Arshdeep Singh, Punjab managed to get the likes of Jonny Bairstow, Shikhar Dhawan, Rahul Chahar, Kagiso Rabada, Odean Smith and Liam Livingstone.

To maintain some continuity, they also bought back the big-hitting Shah Rukh Khan and left-arm spinner Harpeet Brar besides getting Rishi Dhawan and Sandeep Sharma, who both played for Punjab in the past.

In recent seasons, Punjab struggled with power hitting in the middle-order and death bowling.

"We have well balanced squad now. We bat all the way down to eight or nine and have the bowlers who can do the job both upfront and at the death."

"I would say this was the toughest and most successful auction for us since the first edition in 2008," said Wadia comparing the current squad to the 2008 batch which had the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Brett Lee and Irfan Pathan.

The co-owner said their preparation for the mega auction began in October last year and that included "intense" mock auctions.

"We had a very good idea of who we would be going for and we were pretty accurate when it came to that. And also, our objective was not to really focus on what others are doing."

"Each team has its own way of playing style number one and number two, how to get the right players to meet that style so we were very happy with the players we got."

"Yes, we would have liked to have kept some of the players which we didn't retain," he said referring to Aiden Markram.

Talking more about the preparations for the auction, he said: "There were several mock auctions. It was very, very intense. If you don't plan and you're not prepared, then you won't be able to deal with the dynamics of a battle.

"I'm very proud to say that all the planning and effort by everyone including the board has helped us to achieve what we wanted to achieve."

Punjab were also committed to get India U-19 star Raj Bawa on board and paid Rs 2 crore for his services. One player they badly wanted was India all-rounder Shardul Thakur.

"We wanted to get more Indian bowlers (the likes of Thakur, Harshal Patel and Deepak Chahar) but I am happy they went for big money. It was high time our Indian bowlers got their due," said Wadia.

He is also happy that IPL is back in India and hopes it can be taken to other cities outside of Maharashtra if it is safe enough to do it.

"I feel we have seen the worst of the pandemic. It is fantastic that IPL is back in India, where it belongs. If it is held in various parts of India, it is even better. I think for this year, it is best if it is in one state and going forward we can have it all around the country," he added.