Punjab Kings

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The franchise's most successful season came in 2014, when under captain George Bailey and coach Sanjay Bangar they won all five opening matches in the UAE. Glenn Maxwell was named tournament MVP with 552 runs at a strike rate of 187.75. In the final, Wriddhiman Saha became the first player to score a century in an IPL final (115*), but Kolkata Knight Riders chased down 200 with three balls to spare. That same year, Kings XI Punjab qualified for the Champions League Twenty20, going unbeaten in the group stage—including a record 120-run win over Northern Knights—before losing the semi-final to Chennai Super Kings by 65 runs despite a Parvinder Awana hat-trick. In 2025, they again topped the table but lost the final to Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

In Their Own Story

The 2014 final at Eden Gardens: Wriddhiman Saha stood alone on the pitch, his bat raised after a stunning 115 not out—the first century ever scored in an IPL final. But Kolkata Knight Riders, led by Manish Pandey's 94, chased it down with three balls to spare. The team had won all five of their UAE group matches, Maxwell had blazed 552 runs, and they entered the final as favorites. Yet the trophy slipped away. Eleven years later, in 2025, they again finished league-toppers, only to lose the final to Royal Challengers Bengaluru. The pattern repeated: dominance in the group stage, heartbreak at the last hurdle.

Reader's Guide

The Punjab Kings are one of eight original IPL franchises, bought in 2008 by a group including Mohit Burman (46%), Ness Wadia (23%), Preity Zinta (23%), and Saptarshi Dey (minor stake) for $76 million. Their catchment areas were Kashmir, Jammu, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana—reflected in the old logo's 'K J H P H' banner. The franchise was briefly expelled from the IPL in October 2010 over the BCCI-Lalit Modi controversy, but the termination was stayed by the Bombay High Court, and the dispute ended in 2012. In February 2021, the name changed from Kings XI Punjab to Punjab Kings; Ness Wadia said the rebrand was planned two years earlier but delayed by COVID-19, expressing disappointment at 'not being able to win a title' and hoping to 'start afresh.' At the 2025 IPL auction, the franchise made the second highest-ever bid for a player, paying ₹26.75 crore for Shreyas Iyer.

Did You Know?

• Shaun Marsh, signed as an uncapped player on 9 April 2008 after being overlooked in the auction, finished as the tournament's first Orange Cap holder with 616 runs in 11 innings.
• In 2014, Wriddhiman Saha became the first player to score a century in an IPL final (115*).
• The franchise was briefly expelled from the IPL in October 2010, but the termination was stayed by the Bombay High Court and the dispute ended in 2012.
• At the 2025 IPL auction, Punjab Kings paid ₹26.75 crore for Shreyas Iyer, the second highest-ever bid for a player in the IPL.
• The team's old logo featured the letter sequence 'K J H P H' representing its catchment areas: Kashmir, Jammu, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana.