Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting has been accused of adding too many Australian players to the squad as he hails from the same country. The veteran has reacted to the allegations, with many calling the franchise mini-Australia. Punjab bought Shreyas Iyer for INR 26.75 core, making him the second most expensive player after Rishabh Pant (INR 27 crore) in the history of the tournament. Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal were paid INR 18 crore each by the franchise. Punjab also bought five Australian players, including the likes of Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis.

Speaking in a media interaction, Ponting said the players were bought according to the game’s needs and demands.

“We have some of the best young Indian players in the team. The scouts did a great job for us. They knew that this is what we wanted,” he said.

“I will face flak because we have some Australians in the team. We have five Aussie players out of quota of eight overseas cricketers. But when you look at the slots, the players we signed fit the roles perfectly,” he added.

“Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell have played for Punjab in the past. Xavier Bartlett, Aaron Hardie, and Josh Inglis will play in the IPL for the first time.”

Punjab Kings Full Squad

Lockie Ferguson, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harnoor Pannu, Kuldeep Sen, Priyansh Arya, Aaron Hardie, Musheer Khan, Suryansh Shedge, Xavier Bartlett, Pyla Avinash, Pravin Dubey, Shashank Singh, Prabhsimran Singh, Arshdeep Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Marcus Stoinis. , Glenn Maxwell, Nehal Wadhera, Harpreet Brar, Vishnu Vinod, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yash Thakur, Marco Jansen, Josh Inglis