"Punjabi add kr liye ek hor?" - Arshdeep Singh recommends India-born Tasmania star to Punjab Kings ahead of IPL 2026 Auction

Pacer Arshdeep Singh recommended India-born Tasmania star Nikhil Chaudhary to the Punjab Kings (PBKS) ahead of the IPL 2026 Auction. The India-born cricketer plays in Australia. He smashed his maiden First-Class hundred while batting for Tasmania in the ongoing Sheffield Shield.

Nikhil Chaudhary scored 163 runs off 184 balls. His stunning knock included nine boundaries and five maximums. Nikhil was born in Delhi and played domestic cricket for Punjab before moving to Australia. He represented Punjab at the U-16, U-19, U-22 levels and at the senior level as well.

Arshdeep Singh, who plays for the Punjab Kings, recommended that the franchise acquire Nikhil during the upcoming auction ahead of the 2026 season.

He put up a post by cricket.com.au on his Instagram story and wrote:

"@punjabkingsipl Punjabi add kr liye ek hor?" (add one more Punjabi?)

Screenshot of Arshdeep Singh's Instagram story

Nikhil Chaudhary is a leg-spinner who also has equal capability with the bat. He plays for the Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League.

PBKS will head into the IPL 2026 auction with a purse of ₹11.50 crore. They have four slots left to be filled, including two overseas ones.

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Punjab Kings have favored local talent the most in the IPL

Punjab Kings are among the teams with the most number of local players in the IPL. They had Prabhsimran Singh, Shashank Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh, and Harnoor Pannu in their squad last year, all of whom have been retained for the 2026 edition.

Their local core delivered, being a major reason behind the team making it to the IPL 2025 final. Prabhsimran Singh scored 549 runs from 17 matches at an average of 32.39 and a strike-rate of 160.52 with four half-centuries.

Nehal Wadhera scored 369 runs from 15 innings at an average of 30.75 and a strike-rate of 145.84. Shashank Singh ended with 350 runs from 14 innings at an average of 50 and a strike-rate of 153.50.

With the ball, Harpreet Brar picked up 10 wickets from seven innings at an average of 19 and an economy of 8.63. Arshdeep was their leading wicket-taker with 21 scalps at an average of 24.66 and an economy of 8.88.