"Lots and lots and lots of all-rounders" - Aakash Chopra on Punjab Kings' strengths ahead of IPL 2025

Former India player Aakash Chopra has picked the plethora of all-rounders in the Punjab Kings (PBKS) squad as one of their strengths heading into IPL 2025. He noted that the presence of so many multi-faceted players provides flexibility to the franchise.

PBKS have assembled a full-strength 25-member squad for IPL 2025. They retained only two players — Shashank Singh (₹5.50 crore) and Prabhsimran Singh (₹4 crore) — and spent ₹110.15 crore to acquire 23 more at the mega auction last November.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener opined that the Punjab Kings' biggest positive ahead of IPL 2025 is the all-round options in their squad.

"They have a long list of all-rounders. They have eight all-rounders - Azmatullah Omarzai, Aaron Hardie, Marco Jansen, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Suryansh Shedge, Musheer Khan and Shashank Singh. Lots and lots and lots of all-rounders," he said (4:45).

"They have given themselves a lot of options. The keepers they have, Josh Inglis and Prabhsimran Singh, are also proper batters. So it is a team full of all-rounders. This team is filled with players who can do two jobs. I feel that is a huge strength," Chopra added.

Marcus Stoinis (₹11 crore) was the most expensive all-rounder picked by the Punjab Kings at the IPL 2025 auction. Apart from the aforementioned players, PBKS have two decent spin-bowling all-rounders in Harpreet Brar and Pravin Dubey.

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"There is depth in the Indian fast bowling department" - Aakash Chopra on the Punjab Kings' other strengths heading into IPL 2025

PBKS used the RTM card to reacquire Arshdeep Singh for ₹18 crore at the IPL 2025 auction. [P/C: iplt20.com]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra chose the depth in the overseas contingent and the Indian seam-bowling department as another of the Punjab Kings' strengths heading into IPL 2025.

"They also have depth in both the batting and bowling departments. They have a lot of depth from the overseas recruits' point of view. There is depth in the Indian fast bowling department, although it might lack a little in terms of quality," he said (7:50).

The cricketer-turned-commentator opined that Shreyas Iyer's impressive record as captain in the IPL could also help PBKS' cause.

"Shreyas Iyer's record. He is the only one to have taken two different teams to the final. He took DC to the final and won KKR the final. Now he is with Punjab. He has a good equation with Ricky Ponting. I believe that can be considered a good strength," Chopra observed,

Shreyas led the Delhi Capitals (DC) to the IPL 2020 final. He captained the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to the title last year but was neither retained nor reacquired by the franchise at the auction.