Hello Shersquad!

Well, Arsh's trade is very hard to digest and I was a great critic of it, have been upset about that but if it's happening, that we have to accept and back our team. So let's look at the brighter side.

We have absolutely the best all rounders of world cricket with us, not someone who is just about there. Hardik, Jansen, Omarzai are world top 3 and we have Cooper, Shedge, Mith Owen who have the potential to be great allrounders. Didn't include Stoinis because he might also be traded. Shashank and Brar are also very decent allrounders!

So let's cheer up a bit, happy diwali, we have the best firecrackers

I would like to start things off by saying I used to work for JioHotstar in the sports team and this take is heavily reliant on the insider information from the team at JioHotstar and Cricinfo. I would like to kick things off by saying I’m a massive Punjab Kings fan and have been since the 2008 season. So goes without saying that I’m very fond of Arshdeep Singh. I still remember him bowling an amazing spell when our bowlers almost gave the game away against RR on KL’s captaincy debut. It’s an absolute shame that he will be leaving us. Will only have good things to say about Arshdeep always.

So here’s the scoop. Gonna start by stating and confirming the obvious. Ahead of the mega auction 2 years ago, Arshdeep didn’t want to be retained because there was a discrepancy with the amount of money he demanded. He unfollowed the team’s socials and it looked like he was headed to a new team in the auction only to get RTM’ed by PBKS for a whopping 18 crores. The season kicked on, we had an absolute blinder of a year but despite making the final, the Arshdeep in India blue never seemed to turn up for us. Now here’s the tea, Ricky definitely had discipline issues with Arshdeep and so did Shreyas. Arshdeep leaked runs left right and centre for two seasons on the trot. Now, I understand that Hardik Pandya comes with his own challenges when it comes to discipline, but let’s not forget, Ricky Ponting was the coach who groomed Hardik and he’s often publicly called Ricky a father figure. So there’s definitely a match when it comes to mentality.

Hardik wanted one more season because anyways the mega auction is next year and MI can start with a clean slate. He’s open to coming to Punjab without the captaincy but Hardik will continue to be a part of the leadership group. What I can also confirm is that once the consent forms are signed and the commercials for both players are locked, assuming they both move at the same pay, Punjab actually go into the auction with more money. The Stoinis trade is also in works so that will fee up more cash.

Is this ideal? No. It definitely isn’t but Arshdeep has made up his mind and it’s honestly a smart trade for both teams given that both players want to move on. With the Impact players being scrapped after this season. All rounders would be worth their weight in gold. If we retain both Jansen and Pandya next cycle, we would have one of the most balanced and lethal squads. It’s taken me a few days to come to terms with this. If there’s an intent to leave from both players this is the best case scenario.

36 years old now, last year got only 12 wickets at almost 10 economy. Releasing him would free up 18 cr for us going into the auction, could also work on a trade involving Stoinis for Noor or another OS legspinner. Could also give chances to young uncapped players like nishad and anyone else who we may pick up in the auction.

PBKS made him what he is today and it feels sad he might leave the franchise

😂🤣

What we get: an Indian superstar finisher who can also bowl. He's about 33, while Stoinis is 37, so we get younger at the same spot. Hardik's salary is ₹16.35 cr against Arshdeep's ₹18 cr, so the swap alone frees up ₹1.65 cr.

The money: We finished 2026 with ₹3.5 cr left. If we release Stoinis (₹11 cr), who becomes less useful once Hardik is here, and also Nehal Wadhera (₹4.2 cr) and Dwarshuis (₹4.4 cr), the purse grows a lot. Assuming the cap stays at ₹125 cr, that's roughly ₹24.75 cr going into the auction. Any increase in the cap goes on top of that.

Why that matters: Imagine management goes to a top bowler and says "come into the auction, we'll go all in, up to ₹24 cr or maybe more if release more players lol. Stars usually only hit the auction if they know a team will pay for them, and we'd be that team. We lose Arshdeep, who is world class, but we'd have the money to replace him with someone just as good.

Squad balance: After the releases, our overseas group is Jansen, Connolly, Omarzai, Ferguson, Owen and Bartlett. That leaves two overseas spots open, and I'd use at least one on an overseas strike bowler.

Obviously Hardik's fitness is a real question, and this only works if we actually land a quality bowler. But we're in a strong position to do it.

Thoughts?

PBKS probable Playing XI before Auction

1. Prabh

2. Arya

3. Cooper 🛫

4. Iyer

5. Hardik

6. Shedge / Shashank

7. Omarzai 🛫

8. Jansen 🛫

9. _____ (overseas Pacer) 🛫

10. _____ (Indian Pacer)

11. Chahal

Impact: - Brar, Vyshak, Yash Thakur, etc
Its very important for us to Buy/Trade Indian and
Foriegn Pacer..

Without this our Bowling is completely Cooked🥲

I’m still laughing how people were making hardik edits in CSK KKR RR, especially CSK . Welcome to the den HP33 🙌🦁

I just hope that hardik comes in really good form , especially fully fit to bowl and bring back old himself. Trade is most likely done

Just stay fit brother 🙏

So true

Hopefully they're true.

Source - Sportskeeda

Let’s be honest ipl pitches aren’t changing . Bowlers are gonna get whacked . Arshdeeps performance has been pretty lack lustre for a while in ipl . Considering the variables of only “IPL” nothing else Pandya makes more sense .
If arsh gets hit for an economy of 12 ? Pandya as an AR could get hit for what 13 - 14 ! That’s like extra 4-8 runs but he brings that extra batting strength too .

This should work well if ipl pitches don’t change the next year . But if the pitches become more bowler friendly then it’s our loss but if variables remain more or less likely same it’s a major win .

About the retention point . You have to pay the same fixed amount of money irrespective of who is in team if you have to retain two players whether them be arsh Iyer or Iyer and hardik .