u/Rehan_sidhu

Let's get the Aussies out of the way - Cooper and Bartlett will most probably be unavailable for IPL 2027 due to national team commitments so I'm not considering them anywhere but I'm retaining both of them. Bartlett is just for 80 lakh and he is a good rotation all rounder and a backup to Jansen/Azmat. And it would be dumb to release your best overseas batsmen cause of unavailability for a season. I mean who would do it *cough cough*? .

Here are my retentions and releases -

Retain (in ₹cr)-

Shreyas Iyer (26.75) - No brainer

Arshdeep Singh (18) - No brainer

Marcus Stoinis (11) - Not washed yet and provides muscle strength to the team and great against pace.

Marco Jansen (7) - Last season was tough due to his fatigue but he still is just 24 and one of the best overseas fast bowlers out there and he will definitely perform.

Azmatullah Omarzai (2.4) - One of the only few positives from the 2nd half of 26 and a really improved batsman and a bowler.

Prabhsimran Singh (4) - No Brainer

Priyansh Arya (3.8) - No Brainer

Harpreet Brar (1.5) - No Brainer

Yash Thakur (1.6) - Great powerplay bowler and is going through aa really good patch of form in domestic.

Shashank Singh (5.5) - Really shocked most of us with the ball and he is still a really good finisher.

Suryansh Shedge (0.30) - No Brainer

Vishnu Vinod (0.95) - Great middle order batsman and our 2nd wicket keeping option.

Harnoor Pannu (0.30) - Promising talent

Musheer Khan (0.30) - Cheap and a quality all rounder

Mitchell Owen (3) - A possible X Factor in most batting lineups due to his explosive batting.

Vijaykumar Vyshak (1.8) - Great post powerplay bowler and he was performing well before he was dropped and his momentum was fucked.

Vishal Nishad (0.30) - Promising talent and a mysterious mystery spinner.

Releases ( in ₹cr)-

Yuzvendra Chahal (18) - 35, doesn't play domestic, seriously underutilized but I think he is not at all worth 18 cr.

Ben Dwarshuis (4.4) - Seriously overpriced and super underwhelming. BTW Ben was in Punjab for only 2 seasons: 2018 and 2026. Coincidence?

Nehal Wadhera (4.2) - His time is up at PBKS and he is also over-priced.

Pyla Avinash (0.30) - Basic squad cleaning

Lockie Ferguson (2) - Washed and mostly injured

Pravin Dubey (0.30) - He was a bit of a panic buy at the auction and he was never in our plans.

The Total Budget for IPL 2027 - ₹37.7 cr.

Targets (in ₹cr)-

Ravi Bishnoi (~14) - He is my primary leg spin target and Yuzi's replacement. He should be our top priority in this auction/trade window and I honestly think he will excel in Mullanpur. Moreover, he has been relegated to the bench at RR so he should be availaible for us to pick up.

Rahul Chahar (~3) - He will be my primary backup to Ravi Bishnoi. Quality player and under Ponting I think he will definitely improve.

Will O Rourke (~2) - Test bowler, constantly bowls at 145+, great wicket taking ability but slightly on the expensive side of things but a great purchase for the future.

Kamindu Mendis (~3) - Quality middle order leftie batsman and an ambidextrous bowler which means he bowls right arm off spin as well which can be very handy for us since we struggled a lot against lefties in 2026.

Gurnoor Brar (~3) - Indian express fast bowler, powerplay wicket taking skills and he is gonna be outstanding in Dharamshala's seam friendly conditions.

These picks leave a budget flexibility of about ₹12 cr to buy youngsters or my proposed targets if their prices shoot up.

Here is my playing xi+ for IPL 2027 (Batting first)-

Prabhsimran Singh(WK)

Priyansh Arya

Mitchell Owen

Shreyas Iyer(C)

Marcus Stoinis

Suryansh Shedge

Shashank Singh

Azmatullah Omarzai

Marco Jansen

Harpreet Brar /Vijaykumar Vyshak/Gurnoor Brar

Ravi Bishnoi

IMP - Arshdeep Singh.

Some changes if needed -

Brar out for Vyshak on tracks which help out the seamers and Gurnoor in place of Vyshak at Dharamshala and overcast conditions.

If our bowling(especially powerplay bowling) still struggles, then we can give a spot to Vyshak/Gurnoor by dropping Shashank or any other batsman who is going through a rough patch.

We struggled A LOT against lefties throughout the season (Axar, Miller, N. Rana, Tilak, Venky, QDK, Ishan, Sai and Jaiswal: all scored 50+ against us). We really need an off spinner to tackle this weakness. Any suggestions y'all have? I would like to have a young Indian offie but the thing is, off spinners are not very popular in India. We can most probably just get a part time off spinner/off spin all rounder and idk if it's worth sacrificing an overseas spot for.

Apps - 34, Clean Sheets - 15

View Poll

P Arya

P Singh[WK]

C Connolly

S Iyer(C)

M Stoinis

S Shedge

A Omarzai

H Brar

Y Thakur

A Singh

Y Chahal

VV Kumar

This is the best possible lineup for playing against RCB according to me. We absolutely need 6 bowling options. And we need to improve our bowling as a well. Arsh and Yash for powerplay along with an odd over of Vyshak. We really need a strike powerplay bowler to put pressure early. The middle overs should be controlled by Brar and Yuzi. Brar would've been very effective on this pitch had he played the game. Also, Punter has mentioned before that Brar has worked a lot on his batting skills and ia a much improved batsman so there shouldn't be any concern regarding our batting depth as well (a reason why I think a few people advocated for Bartlett, including me). Omarzai is a guy who can bowl anywhere but I would like him to bowl in the middle/death along with Vyshak.

We NEED Stoinis in Dharamshala. Satta Vailey has the muscle power to just simply muscle the ball away to the boundary. Dharamshala is a feasting ground for that guy. He can hit any frickin ball and it will reach the boundary. He can be the difference in a 200 finish and a 230 finish. It's a bit sad for Vinod for missing out despite having a great finishing act and good wicket keeping but it is what it is(I would keep Vinod as our crisis man to prevent collapse, like Venky for RCB)