New Delhi: Punjab Kings (PBKS) would be eyeing their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) title when they begin their campaign against Gujarat Titans (GT) in New Chandigarh on March 31. The 19th edition of the cash-rich league begins on March 28 at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium with a clash between defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
An evolved Punjab team came very close to a title victory last season in 2025 as they stormed into the playoffs of the marquee T20 tournament after a huge gap of 11 years but still could not fulfill their wish of lifting the title. In a thrilling finale against RCB, PBKS fell short by 6 runs finishing the season as runners-up.
Carrying on that momentum with a reinforced squad under the leadership of the dashing Shreyas Iyer, Punjab would be aiming to utilise this opportunity and try to pounce over each and every opponent with a focus on maiden silverware. Meanwhile at the 2026 mini-auction, Punjab retained their core group of players and added only four new faces to their squad, which includes Australians Cooper Connolly and Ben Dwarshuis.
The batting list would be headline by skipper Iyer, Nehal Wadhera, Priyansh Arya while Prabhsimran Singh, Vishnu Vinod also possess the ability to lend a helping hand. Punjab possess strong all-rounders in form of Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen and Azmatullah Omarzai who ae expected to play a pivotal role in the season.
Full squad
Batters: Shreyas Iyer (C), Nehal Wadhera, Priyansh Arya, Harnoor Singh, Pyla Avinash.
Wicketkeepers: Prabhsimran Singh, Vishnu Vinod.
All-rounders: Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Azmatullah Omarzai, Musheer Khan, Mitchell Owen, Cooper Connolly, Shashank Singh, Suryansh Shedge.
Bowlers: Arshdeep Singh, Lockie Ferguson, Xavier Bartlett, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Yash Thakur, Ben Dwarshuis, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harpreet Brar, Pravin Dubey, Vishal Nishad.
PBKS playing XI for IPL 2026
Prabhsimran Singh (WK), Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer (C), Nehal Wadhera, Marcus Stoinis, Shashank Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal.