The auction of IPL 2026 is all set to take place in December, and the franchises are required to submit the final retention list by mid-November, according to reports. One of the franchises that would be in focus is the Punjab Kings. They made it to the final and, after a long time, they seem to have found a settled core.
The captain-coach duo of Shreyas Iyer and Ricky Ponting have been inspirational and backed many youngsters in the 2025 season. So, ahead of the 2026 mega auction, here is the probable retention list of Punjab Kings.
PBKS IPL 2026 retention list
Players
Role
Shreyas Iyer
Batter
Shashank Singh
Batter
Nehal Wadhera
Batter
Prabhsimran Singh
Wicketkeeper batter
Priyansh Arya
Batter
Harpreet Brar
All-rounder
Vyshak Vijaykumar
Bowler
Arshdeep Singh
Bowler
Harpreet Brar
Bowler
Musheer Khan
All-rounder
Suryansh Shedge
Batter
Josh Inglis
Wicketkeeper batter
Marcus Stoinis
All-rounder
Marco Jansen
All-rounder
Azmatullah Omarzai
All-rounder
Mitchell Owen
All-rounder
Glenn Maxwell
All-rounder
Powerhouse top-four
Punjab Kings promoted two young players as openers in the last season, and both of them came out with flying colours. Priyansh Arya, in his inaugural edition, displayed great consistency and scored a hundred as well, while Prabhimran Singh displayed more maturity and better shot selection.
Batters
Runs
Strike-rate
Priyansh Arya
475
179.24
Prabhsimran Singh
549
160.52
Josh Inglis
278
162.57
Shreyas Iyer
604
175.07
They have Josh Inglis and Shreyas Iyer at numbers 3 and 4, respectively. The positions can be swapped too, but overall, both of them were in great form in IPL 2025, and thus, Punjab Kings have a settled and powerful top-four.
One of the biggest strengths for Punjab Kings in IPL 2025 was the presence of all-rounders. Glenn Maxwell had a poor season and was ruled out midway due to injury too, but Punjab still had players like Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai and brought impressive Mitchell Owen as a replacement. They also have quality Indian talent in the form of Shashank Singh and Nehal Wadhera, and thus, Punjab Kings have the firepower in the middle and lower order to post big totals, which we saw last year.
Thus, they would like to retain all these players, while they might leave Aaron Hardie, who was not used in the last season. They also have youngsters like Musheer Khan and Suryansh Shedge who can be good back-up options, and thus, Punjab Kings have a settled batting unit which they would not like to tinker with.
Need back-up for Yuzvendra Chahal
Yuzvendra Chahal is a world-class performer and picked up a hattrick in IPL 2025 too. He also won them the match against KKR and would be key for them once again. However, apart from him, the Punjab Kings have only Harpreet Brar as a reliable spin-bowler, and it hurt them when Chahal got injured at the backend of IPL 2025. They might release Praveen Dubey and look for a more proven spinner who can take the place of Yuzvendra Chahal if the situation arises.
Requirement of quality pacer to accompany Arshdeep Singh
Punjab Kings have almost all bases covered, but they need more fine-tuning in their pace department. Arshdeep Singh is the gun-fast bowler in their arsenal, but after an injury to Lockie Ferguson, they struggled to find a reliable pace bowler. Thus, they would be looking to buy a quality overseas bowler who can be reliable with both new and old balls and provide more assurance to the captain Shreyas Iyer.
Punjab Kings in IPL 2025 (Source: AFP)
