IPL 2022 Auction: 3 PBKS overseas batters to watch out for

Punjab Kings (PBKS) have made two sensible moves ahead of IPL 2022 — (i) Picking Mayank Agarwal as their captain and (ii) Having a productive IPL 2022 Auction.

The latter was one of the most important boxes that the franchise seemingly failed to tick in the last couple of seasons. Their balance and depth were sorely missed and the side, after retaining just two players, Agarwal and Arshdeep Singh, went into a major rebuild.

Here's a quick look at their IPL 2022 squad:

Mayank Agarwal, Arshdeep Singh, Shikhar Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada, Jonny Bairstow, Rahul Chahar, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Ishan Porel, Liam Livingstone, Odean Smith, Sandeep Sharma, Raj Angad Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Prerak Mankad, Vaibhav Arora, Writtick Chatterjee, Baltej Dhanda, Ansh Patel, Nathan Ellis, Atharva Taide, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Benny Howell

As far as their batting is concerned, Punjab will be pleased with the international imports they have purchased during the tournament. Here's a quick look at some of the overseas batters to watch out for.

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#1 Jonny Bairstow will be PBKS' top-order weapon

One of the most dependable names on the T20 circuit at present, English wicketkeeper batter Jonny Bairstow is one of the big names to play for PBKS in IPL 2022.

Bairstow was a batting mainstay for the Sunrisers Hyderabad for the past few seasons and although he only played seven games last season, he made his presence felt by stacking up 248 runs at an average of 41.33 and a strike rate of 141.71.

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#2 Liam Livingstone

Another English player who had a meteroical rise in T20s. Liam Livingstone didn't feature much for the Rajasthan Royals last season, but is slated to be present for a major part of PBKS' matches in IPL 2022.

Livingstone has played 167 T20 games so far, scoring 4110 runs at a strike rate of 145. PBKS will be hoping that Livingstone hands them a victory or two in their upcoming season.

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#3 Odean Smith

One of the West Indies all-rounders who is slated to do well in the IPL 2022 Auction following his impressive performances for the national side. Odean Smith was purchased by PBKS for ₹6 crore on day two of the mega event.

The talented Windies cricketer has played 33 T20 matches. He has picked up 36 wickets at an average of 24.69 in addition to scoring 192 runs at a strike rate of 130.61.

He will be looked at as one of the lower-order batters who will finish games for the side or help in setting competitive totals.