Watch: Punjab Kings head coach Anil Kumble shares a message ahead of IPL 2021
Punjab Kings (PK) shared a video on Twitter with a message from Anil Kumble ahead of IPL 2021. The head coach of PBKS stated that even though the franchise missed out on the playoffs last season, he was satisfied with his team's performance.
The video also shows various visuals from the Punjab Kings' training session and was captioned: "Champs da camp begins... WE ARE READY TO ROAR"
In the clip, Anil Kumble said:
"We probably played really good cricket last year. A couple of unlucky calls, a couple of close calls, which we should have sort of closed out. We missed qualifying narrowly last year, so this year I think that's behind us. We just want to make a good start, and it's back in India, which is a good thing. We know the conditions. So really looking forward to this year's IPL."
Punjab Kings, formerly known as the Kings XI Punjab, had a poor start to their IPL 2020 campaign, winning just one out of their first seven encounters. However, the KL Rahul-led team managed to turn things around by winning their next five games. They faltered in their final two matches to eventually finish sixth.
Punjab Kings in search of their first IPL title
Punjab Kings are yet to win the IPL title. The franchise came closest to lifting the trophy in 2014, when they lost to Kolkata Knight Riders in the final.
Punjab Kings retained 13 Indian players and only three foreigners - Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, and Chris Jordan - ahead of the IPL 2021 Auction. While they spent ₹14 crore to sign Australian all-rounder Jhye Richardson, their most expensive Indian recruit turned out to be Shahrukh Khan, who joined the ranks for ₹5.25 crore.
Punjab Kings full squad for IPL 2021
KL Rahul(Captain), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Prabhsimran Singh, Mohammed Shami, Chris Jordan, Darshan Nalkande, Ravi Bishnoi, Murugan Ashwin, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Ishan Porel, Jhye Richardson, Moises Henriques, Riley Meredith, Shahrukh Khan, Dawid Malan, Pratyush Singh, Jalaj Saxena.