Punjab Kings have been the perennial underachievers of the IPL, never being able to perform to their potential. Their best performance was in 2014 when they reached the final, and lost to KKR.

Having spent Rs 24.95 crore at the mini-auction in December, they will be looking to end their trophy drought under the captaincy of Shikhar Dhawan.

They open their campaign at Punjab Cricket Association’s new stadium in Mullanpur on Saturday.

• Strengths

Punjab will rely heavily on their batting, the top order comprises Dhawan — who ended last season as Punjab’s highest scorer with 373 runs at an average of 41.44 besides a strike-rate of 143 — Jonny Bairstow and Rilee Rossouw. They will also depend on the firepower of Liam Livingstone, Sikandar Raza and Sam Curran in the middle order.

Bairstow wasn’t able to build on his starts in the recently-concluded Test series but the T20 format will provide him with an opportunity to prove himself ahead of the World Cup in June.

Jitesh Sharma’s performances as a finisher have also been encouraging and a robust season will lend him hope of being on the shortlist of the national selectors.

Punjab boast of a quality pace attack though it remains to be seen if the surface in the new stadium will support them. The addition of Harshal Patel to their arsenal along with Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh and Curran offers them plenty of variety. They also have Chris Woakes, who can provide breakthroughs with the new ball.

• Weaknesses

Punjab are thin on spin. Their options are limited with only Rahul Chahar and Harpreet Brar among the specialist spinners who can be useful. They bagged 17 wickets in the IPL 2023 collectively and will be hoping for better returns this season.

They have a couple of part-time spin options in Livingstone and Raza but how far they will be successful in Indian conditions remains
to be seen.

• X-factor

Dhawan’s form will be the key and if he can replicate his big-hitting ways, Punjab Kings can hope for a good start. The opener hasn’t played much since being out of the Indian squad and could be short of match practice. Arshdeep and Rabada’s role could also be important.

• Key signings: Harshal Patel, Chris Woakes, Rilee Rossouw.

• Last year: Eighth

• Best finish: Runners-up in 2014