3 players who will play for PBKS in IPL 2025 after being at RCB in 2024 ft. Glenn Maxwell
The two most explosive sides in the Indian Premier League (IPL), due to their attacking mindset, Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) built a strong squad for the 2025 season.
Both teams made sure to follow the team's mindset and raised their paddle accordingly to purchase certain players in the auction. The likes of Shreyas Iyer and Marcus Stoinis will ply their trade for PBKS while Liam Livingstone and Phil Salt will don the RCB jersey.
However, there were some players who have shifted their bases from RCB to PBKS heading into the 2025 season. Let's take a look at those three cricketers who will now be playing for the Punjab-based franchise.
#1 Lockie Ferguson
Punjab Kings purchased the services of Kiwi international Lockie Ferguson for his base price of ₹2 crore at the IPL 2025 auction. The fierce pacer played seven games for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru side in the last season. He managed to secure nine wickets at an expensive economy of 10.62.
As a result of his mediocre performances, Ferguson was released from the RCB squad. Nevertheless, the right-arm pacer impressed by picking seven wickets in four appearances for New Zealand in the T20 World Cup. He then secured 10 wickets in seven games for the Washington Freedom in the Major League Cricket (MLC) 2024 at an economy of 7.26 to make a good impression of himself.
Ferguson will look to extract pace and bounce from the surface of Punjab's home ground, Mullanpur and secure consistent wickets for the side in the upcoming season.
#2 Glenn Maxwell
'Big Show' Glenn Maxwell had a disappointing season with the RCB in 2024. He accumulated only 52 runs in nine innings and could not find retention from the franchise.
However, PBKS was involved in a bidding war to bring their former all-rounder back into the setup for the first time after the 2020 season for ₹4.2 crores. Maxwell has a credible record with the franchise, slamming nearly 1,300 runs at a strike rate of 158.77, with six fifties to his name.
Maxwell smashed 552 runs at a strike rate of 187.75 in the 2014 season to help the Punjab-based franchise emerge as the runners-up. It was the franchise's best-ever finish in the league's history.
The swashbuckling batter will look to get back to his best in the 2025 season with the franchise, with whom he has had a great track record.
#3 Vyshak Vijaykumar
Right-arm pacer Vyshak Vijaykumar impressed in his debut IPL game for RCB in 2023. He finished with figures of 3/20 while taking the wickets of David Warner and Axar Patel. That edition saw him finish with nine wickets in seven games.
Vijaykumar picked four wickets in as many games for the Bengaluru-based franchise last year. However, RCB decided to release him ahead of the auction.
The 27-year-old did well to secure 10 wickets in three games of the Duleep Trophy 2024. He also earned his maiden India call-up for the T20I series against South Africa, however, he didn't get to play in any of the games.
Entering the auction at his base price of INR 30 lakh, Vijaykumar was bought by Punjab for ₹1.80 crore.