The Punjab Kings (PBKS) had an almost flawless season in 2025. Everything seemed to fall into place, except for that final match against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. With Shreyas Iyer and Ricky Ponting at the helm, the new team really made an impact. As they head into the IPL 2026 auction, PBKS only needs to address a couple of areas. Currently, PBKS has the second-lowest budget for the IPL 2026 auction, sitting at INR 11.50 crore. But with 21 players already retained and just 4 slots left to fill to reach the maximum of 25, they have plenty of funds to work with. Ideally, they can bring in 2 overseas players since they’ve already kept 6. One key challenge for Punjab will be finding a replacement for Josh Inglis, who will be unavailable for most of the IPL 2026 season. They’ll need to decide whether to bring in a foreign wicketkeeper or a foreign batter to fill his spot at number three or four. If they opt for a batter, they’ll also need to secure another Indian wicketkeeper. For the IPL 2026 auction, PBKS is likely to aim for a well-rounded squad by targeting both Indian and international players. In terms of wicketkeeping, they might consider Indian options like Luvnith Sisodia, Vansh Bedi, or Kartik Sharma, while foreign choices could include David Miller, Jonny Bairstow, Tim Seifert, or Shai Hope. Also Read | 2 Indians and 15 overseas: Know the players registered with 1 crore base price When it comes to all-rounders, they may look at Liam Livingstone, Wanindu Hasaranga, Michael Bracewell, Daniel Sams, Matthew Short, or Kyle Jamieson. Their fast-bowling lineup could feature Chetan Sakariya, Akash Madhwal, Akash Deep, or Ashok Sharma, while spin options like Ravi Bishnoi, Karn Sharma, Kumar Kartikeya, and Vignesh Puthur will help strengthen the middle overs. With both Glenn Maxwell and Aaron Hardie gone, they’ll definitely need to bring in a foreign all-rounder. They might lean towards someone who can bowl spin, given their abundance of pace options. After releasing leg spinner Pravin Dubey, they’ll be on the lookout for another spinner and a pace replacement for Kuldeep Sen. PBKS Retained Players List Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh (wicketkeeper), Shreyas Iyer (captain), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harpreet Brar, Suryansh Shedge, Vishnu Vinod (wicketkeeper), Xavier Bartlett, Yash Thakur, Mitchell Owen, Harnoor Singh, Musheer Khan, Pyla Avinash, Marco Jansen, Lockie Ferguson PBKS Released Players List Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Hardie, Praveen Dubey, Kuldeep Sen, Josh Inglis (wicketkeeper)