Punjab Kings, the runners-up of IPL 2025, entered the 2026 mini-auction with the second-smallest budget among all ten franchises. Under Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy, PBKS made a remarkable run to the final last season but narrowly lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru by six runs. Their performance marked a significant milestone, as the franchise reached the playoffs and the final for the first time in 11 years.

Ahead of IPL 2026, Punjab Kings retained most of their core squad, making only minimal adjustments. Punjab Kings kicked off the accelerated round of the IPL 2026 auction by snapping up Australian all-rounder Cooper Connolly for Rs 3 crore. A left-handed batter and slow left-arm orthodox bowler, Connolly had attracted interest from Kolkata Knight Riders, who initially bid his base price of Rs 2 crore, but PBKS ultimately secured him.

Later in the day, the franchise strengthened their pace attack by acquiring Dutch fast bowler Ben Dwarshuis for Rs 4.40 crore, rounding out their key auction signings.

Complete List of Players Acquired by Punjab Kings in IPL 2026 Auction: Cooper Connolly (Rs 3 crore), Ben Dwarshuis (Rs 4.4 crore), Vishal Nishad (30 lakh).

Players Retained: Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Xavier Bartlett, Lockie Ferguson, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Yash Thakur, Shreyas Iyer, Shashank Singh, Musheer Khan, Pyala Avinash, Harnoor Pannu, Nehal Wadhera, Marcus Stoinis, Suryansh Shedge, Mitchell Owen, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen, Harpreet Brar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Vishnu Vinod.