Punjab Kings predicted XI for IPL 2021

All-rounder: Jhye Richardson

Jhye Richardson was the leading wicket-taker in this year's BBL

PBKS are woefully short of all-rounders. Despite having over INR 50 crores in their purse ahead of the IPL 2021 auction, the team management walked away with only Moises Henriques and Fabian Allen.

Jhye Richardson is capable with the bat, but it's a bit of a stretch to call him an all-rounder. The fast bowler was the leading wicket-taker in this year's Big Bash League, and he has been signed to give Mohammed Shami some support.

Richardson will bat at No. 7 in this XI, and he'll need to perform far better than he has done with the bat in the recent past.

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Bowlers: Chris Jordan, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Murugan Ashwin

Mohammed Shami has relatively more support this year

If PBKS aren't comfortable with Richardson batting as high as No. 7, they could opt to field Moises Henriques instead of Chris Jordan. But that would leave Henriques as the third pace option, and with the pitch in Mohali fairly helpful for the quick bowlers, PBKS might choose to go down a different route.

Jordan, who overcame a poor run in form to pick up a bagful of wickets in the latter half of IPL 2020, might be the man to make the XI. New signing Riley Meredith has express pace, but Jordan will be needed to add weight to a weak lower-middle order.

The Englishman is followed by the Indian trio of Shami, Murugan Ashwin and Ravi Bishnoi. The two leg-spinners excelled under the watchful eye of Anil Kumble in IPL 2020, and they'll want to build on their superb performances from last year.

PBKS have the option of fielding young left-armer Arshdeep Singh instead of Jordan, and this would allow them to play either Henriques or Malan in the middle order. But this would further weaken the batting lineup, which is already a batsman or two short.

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PBKS' predicted playing XI for IPL 2021: KL Rahul (c & wk), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Shahrukh Khan, Jhye Richardson, Chris Jordan, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Murugan Ashwin