Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Tuesday released their former captain Mayank Agarwal ahead of the auction for IPL 2023. Agarwal's association with the Punjab Kings ended following his poor batting performance in the IPL 2022. West Indies allrounder Odean Smith, Prerak Mankad, Writtick Chatterjee and Ishan Pore, Vaibhav Arora, Benny Howell and Sandeep Sharma have also been released along with Mayank. The likes of Jonny Bairstow, Shahrukh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Kagiso Rabada and Liam Livingstone have been retained.
The exit of Smith and Agarwal means 18 crores more for PBKS's purse.Shikhar Dhawan has recently replaced Mayank as PBKS captain for the upcoming IPL season. The franchise had retained Mayank ahead of the IPL 2022 auction for Rs 14 crore but Agarwal failed both as a captain and a batter. He hasn't been in great form in domestic cricket, either, having struggled at the top of the order for Karnataka in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Punjab Kings' players released:
Mayank Agarwal, Odean Smith, Vaibhav Arora, Benny Howell, Ishan Porel, Ansh Patel, Prerak Mankad, Sandeep Sharma, Writtick Chatterjee
Current squad:
Shikhar Dhawan (capt), Shahrukh Khan, Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma, Raj Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Arshdeep Singh, Baltej Singh, Nathan Ellis, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Brar
Purse remaining: INR 32.2 crore
Overseas slots remaining: 3
