Punjab Kings got a new No. 3 batsman, Ponting-Iyer gave license to cause 'sabotage'

New Delhi. Punjab Kings (PBKS) had released only 5 players before the IPL 2026 auction. Of these, only one name is missing the most and that is Josh English. This Australian wicketkeeper had thrashed the bowlers by coming at number 3, but due to being unavailable in many matches of IPL 2026, he had to be released. Now the question is, who will play at number 3 in place of Josh English? Punjab Kings had two options, either captain Shreyas Iyer himself should come at number 3 (he has played 10 of his last 17 innings in this position) or give a chance to a new player. According to the latest report, captain Shreyas and coach Ricky Ponting have taken a big decision. They are going to play Cooper Connolly at number 3. Connolly has not made his IPL debut yet and his T20 International career has also not been anything special so far.

22-year-old Connolly showed that he has talent by playing an inning of 61 runs against India in Adelaide last year. If we look at his recent form, despite a good start in the Big Bash League, he scored only 209 runs in 12 innings. Could score only 1 run in 3 matches on Pakistan tour and only 14 runs in 2 innings in T20 World Cup 2026. He was an excellent bowler in the BBL, but due to a back injury, Australia's medical staff has prohibited him from bowling till the end of April. That means he will play only as a batsman.

Why are Punjab Kings expressing confidence?
If we look at the statistics, Connolly has played only 14 innings at number 3 so far and his run scoring rate is not as fast as Shreyas or English. In such a situation, it is natural to raise the question that why is Punjab feeding them? Perhaps he is batting brilliantly in the nets, for which he is getting rewarded. It remains to be seen whether he can live up to the trust of the management or not. Punjab Kings team will start its campaign in the current IPL with a match against Gujarat Titans.

Punjab Kings team for IPL 2026
Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer, Shashank Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Umzai, Marco Johnson, Harpreet Brar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Musheer Khan, Pyala Avinash, Harnoor Pannu, Suryansh Shedge, Mitchell Owen, Xavier Bartlett, Lockie Ferguson, Vishak Vijaykumar, Yash Thakur, Vishnu Vinod, Connolly, Connolly, Dwarshuis, Praveen Dubey, Vishal Nishad.