IPL 2025, PBKS SWOT analysis: Can Shreyas Iyer and Ricky Ponting turn the Punjab Kings fate this season?

Punjab Kings aims for their first IPL title in 2025 with a revamped squad led by Shreyas Iyer and coached by Ricky Ponting.

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IPL 2025: Punjab Kings will begin their quest for their maiden IPL title when they take on Gujarat Titans in their opening league stage match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, March 25. 

Punjab Kings are one of the original teams, alongside Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Delhi Capitals, that have not won the IPL title since the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2008. Since 2015, Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab) have not qualified for the playoffs. The Punjab reached the final in 2014, but lost to Kolkata Knight Riders. Ahead of the IPL 2025, PBKS retained only two players, Shashank Singh and Prabhsimran Singh and signed other players at the Auction, including buying back their pace spearhead Arshdeep Singh. 

The two biggest additions to the Punjab Kings squad were Shreyas Iyer and Yuzvendra Chahal. Shreyas Iyer has been appointed as the captain ahead of the IPL 2025. Also, PBKS have also roped in Ricky Ponting as their head coach. With a fresh squad, including new captain and coach, will the Punjab Kings’ hopes of winning the maiden title finally turn into reality? On that note, let’s take a look at the team’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

SWOT analysis of Punjab Kings:

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Strengths 

One of the biggest strengths for Punjab Kings is that they have a formidable batting lineup, which includes Prabhasimram Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis, and Shashank Singh. They are reliable batters who can unleash their firepower by taking on the bowlers from the outset and accelerating the innings and scoring rate in the death and middle overs. The inclusion of Iyer, Stoinis and Inglis in the squad has further strengthened the Punjab Kings’ batting line-up. 

Another strength of the Punjab Kings is that they have reliable all-rounders in the squad. Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell will not only contribute with the bat but can also take crucial wickets with the ball. Since Marco Jansen has a really good height, he can extract extra bounce from the pitch. Having a strong all-rounder unit gives the Punjab Kings management to balance their playing XI effectively.

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Weaknesses

One of the biggest weaknesses, Punjab Kings bowling department looks weak. Apart from Arshdeep Singh and Marco Jansen in pace, and Yuzvendra Chahal in spin, there are not any bowlers who can deliver breakthroughs or take crucial wickets, especially in the middle overs. The lack of experienced Indian pacers and a dependable second spinner could hurt Punjab Kings very badly, given that they will need a strong bowling line-up in order to complement their formidable batting line-up. If Arshdeep, Chahal or Jansen have an off, the team might struggle to contain the opposition's flow of runs. 

Another weakness is Punjab Kings do not have a reliable opener. Prabhsimran Singh is likely to open the innings for PBKS, but the question is who will bat along with him at the top. Josh Inglis is seen as a perfect choice for the opener’s role, but Marcus Stoinis is likely to be pushed by the management to bat at the top-order. However, this uncertainty in the opening combination could put additional pressure on the middle-order to stabilize the innings in case of early fall of wickets.

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Opportunities 

This is the biggest opportunity for Shreyas Iyer to turn the fortunes of Punjab Kings, who have not yet realised their dream of winning the IPL title. Already having a captaincy credentials under his belt, winning the IPL title with Kolkata Knight Riders and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with Mumbai last year, Iyer has the chance of bringing his leadership experience and tactical brilliance, instilling a winning mindset in the squad. Having Ricky Ponting as the head coach, the 30-year-old will benefit from the guidance of one of the successful captains in cricket. 

Another opportunity for Punjab Kings is to groom, nurture and unearth talented players in the squad. Musheer Khan, Priyansh Arya, and Suryansh Shedge have the potential to make a significant impact on the team if given the right opportunities and exposure. Musheer Khan has been considered one of the next big things in Indian Cricket since incredible performance in the U19 World Cup last year.

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Threats

The biggest threat of Punjab Kings has always been both inconsistency in performances and team selections. That’s why the PBKS have not won the IPL title despite having 16 captains over the last 17 seasons and Shreyas Iyer is the 18th captain to lead the team after releasing Shikhar Dhawan from the squad. Over the years, they struggled to maintain a settled playing XI, leading to constant changes in team combinations. 

Another threat, the lack of a proven pace backup could leave Punjab Kings struggling to contain runs of the opposition team, especially on flat tracks, where putting high totals are common. Even on spinning tracks, PBKS might struggle there as well, given that they have only one specialist spinner in Yuzvendra Chahal who they could rely on.