IPL 2022 auction our most successful and toughest, says PBKS co-owner Ness Wadia
India Today
IPL 2022: Punjab Kings co-owner said he believes getting the auction right is 50 percent of the battle won and that he is hoping that the well-balanced PBKS squad can bring home the elusive title.
Punjab Kings co-owner Ness Wadia feels the former finalists had their most successful yet tough auction earlier this month and that they have done half the job for IPL 2022 season at the bidding table itself. Wadia said PBKS have picked a well-rounded squad that is capable of winning the elusive IPL trophy.
Punjab Kings have underperformed 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.
Retaining only 2 players in Mayank Agarwal and Arshdeep Singh, Punjab Kings went into the auction with a purse of Rs 72 crore, the highest among the 10 teams.
Punjab Kings had Rs 3.5 crore left at the end of the mega auction but they managed to complete their squad of 25 players. Most of their picks were lauded by experts after the auction.
PBKS got the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada, Jonny Bairstow, Rahul Chahar, Shahrukh Khan, Liam Livingstone and Odean Smith spending big money on the said players.
They also picked up the likes of U19 World Cup hero Raj Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Sandeep Sharma as valuable local picks.
"50 percent 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.
