Punjab Kings (PBKS) may have the most versatile, competent, and scary bowling attack of all the ten Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 teams. The 2014 finalists have started fresh. They retained just two players before the mega auction and have brought in a new captain, Shreyas Iyer, and head coach, Ricky Ponting.
After a long time, they have assembled a strong unit. And while batters remain in the headlines and perhaps get the most credit, it’s bowlers who win you matches. Considering this, PBKS is set for success. They have good spinners, but more importantly, they have quality pacers.
PBKS has the best IPL 2025 pacer
Arshdeep Singh might just be the best fast bowler in the IPL after Jasprit Bumrah. Some players are better than him in the powerplay, in the middle, and in death. But none are better across. Weirdly enough, he wasn’t retained, but PBKS brought him back with an RTM (Right to Match) card.
Versatility at its best
You have two more powerplay bowlers in Marco Jansen and Azmatullah. But Aaron Hardie and Xavier Bartlett can bowl with the new balls as well.
The area where they might be best would be the middle overs, 7-15. They have Lockie Ferguson, Yash Thakur, Kuldeep Sen and Marcus Stoinis. Ferguson and Sen bowl around 150 clicks. This can be very handy against batters who struggle with pace and on pitches in Mumbai or Dharamshala.
They have death over specialists. Vijaykumar Vyshak has shown what he can do with his yorkers outside off. Then, of course, you have Arshdeep as well. Even Stoinis has been handed the ball in the death overs in the past.
Punjab Kings pacers T20 record
| Innings | Wickets | Average | Economy | Strike Rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arshdeep Singh | 157 | 209 | 22.28 | 8.46 | 15.7 |
| Marco Jansen | 99 | 113 | 26.26 | 8.22 | 19.1 |
| Lockie Ferguson | 175 | 213 | 22.34 | 7.69 | 17.4 |
| Vijaykumar Vyshak | 37 | 47 | 23.89 | 8.63 | 16.5 |
| Yash Thakur | 62 | 87 | 19.47 | 8.11 | 14.4 |
| Kuldeep Sen | 38 | 32 | 34.50 | 8.93 | 23.1 |
| Xavier Bartlett | 63 | 80 | 21.93 | 8.37 | 15.7 |
| Azmatullah Omarzai | 115 | 106 | 27.68 | 8.27 | 20 |
| Aaron Hardie | 52 | 41 | 27.43 | 8.67 | 18.9 |
| Marcus Stoinis | 191 | 158 | 26.48 | 9.01 | 17.6 |
