Punjab Kings owner Preity Zinda lands in Jeddah for IPL 2025 auction, teases “amazing new announcements”

Punjab Kings (PBKS) look to start fresh this season. They’ve brought in a new coach, Ricky Ponting, and decided to clean the slate when it comes to their squad, retaining just two players.

PBKS ready for IPL 2025 auction

With just a day left before the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction kicks off, PBKS co-owner Preity Zinta has landed in Jeddah. Present at bidding wars since the start of the league in 2008, Zinta has teased sharing new announcements with fans of the franchise on her X (formerly Twitter) account.

PBKS are the most underachieving team in the IPL. Despite being one of the original teams, they reached the playoffs just twice. Their last final four finish came in 2014 when they reached the final. A major reason behind their struggles has been their auction strategy. Even in the last auction, they bought the wrong player, Shashank Singh. Going for a 19-year-old, they mistakenly bagged a 32-year-old player instead. The decision turned out good somehow, but the point stands.

Ricky Ponting to bring change?

This year with Ponting present, you’d expect their strategy to be better. They have already got one good opener and one solid middle-order/finisher in Prabhsimran and Shashank Singh. With four Right to Card (RTM) cards left, they can get some of the good players they had in IPL 2024, like Arshdeep Singh, Kagiso Rabada, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Harpreet Brar, Ashutosh Sharma, Rahul Chahar, and Harshal Patel back. 

PBKS retention list for IPL 2025

Retention No. 1 (Rs 5.50 crore): Shashank Singh (uncapped)
Retention No. 2 (Rs 4 crore): Prabhsimran Singh (uncapped)
Remaining Purse: Rs 110.50 crore