Former India player Aakash Chopra has picked the presence of two wicket-taking bowlers in Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal among the Punjab Kings’ (PBKS) strengths heading into IPL 2026. He opined that Chahal would have been in any other country’s T20 World Cup 2026 squad.
Arshdeep and Chahal, who were bought for ₹18 crore apiece, were among the PBKS’ most expensive picks at the IPL 2025 auction. They were among the 21 players retained by the last season’s runners-up ahead of the IPL 2026 auction.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ the former India batter noted that Arshdeep and Chahal provide potency to the Punjab Kings bowling attack.
“Two incredible wicket-takers, Arshdeep Singh and Yuzi Chahal. I don’t think Yuzi Chahal’s game is declining at all. If he had been in any other country, he would have been a part of their World Cup team. He will spin a web, and Arshdeep Singh, who has lifted consecutive World Cup trophies, will be there with him. When you have a minimum of eight overs of wicket-taking ability, then you control the narrative a little more,” he said.
Chopra picked the presence of a plethora of all-rounders as another of the PBKS’ strengths heading into IPL 2026.
“They have a factory of all-rounders, which includes Azmatullah Omarzai, Cooper Connolly, Marco Jansen, Musheer Khan, Mitchell Owen, Marcus Stoinis and Suryansh Shedge. In fact, Harpreet Brar also bats decently. So they have got plenty of all-round options. Josh Inglis left and Cooper Connolly has come in his place,” he observed.
The Punjab Kings acquired Cooper Connolly for ₹3 crore at the IPL 2026 auction. Ben Dwarshuis (₹4.40 crore), Pravin Dubey (₹30 lakh) and Vishal Nishad (₹30 lakh) were their other three buys at the mini auction last year.
In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that the Punjab Kings have gelled well as a unit.
“This team has combined all five fingers to make a fist. This is something that we must admire. Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh came as a breath of fresh air. In fact, their entire story was built around uncapped Indians, who were empowered, whether it was Nehal Wadhera, both openers or Shashank Singh. Everybody felt liberated,” he said.
The cricketer-turned-commentator added that PBKS play fearlessly and have great batting depth.
“It seemed like everyone was playing fearlessly and carefree. They don’t have the fear of anything. They aren’t worried about anything. This has been this team’s philosophy. I will count it as a strength as dangerous teams don’t fear. They have played cricket without fear. There is an immense amount of batting depth, which goes till Marco Jansen. They do bat really deep,” Chopra elaborated.
Aakash Chopra reckoned that Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy is another positive for the Punjab Kings heading into IPL 2026. The analyst disclosed that former India pacer Zaheer Khan told him recently that the PBKS skipper makes all the right moves.
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