Indian T20 League 2023: Punjab likely to sack Mayank Agarwal as their captain for the next season- Reports
The Punjab franchise in the Indian T20 League has once again pressed the reset button. It was only in the last season Punjab named Mayank Agarwal as their new skipper. The Indian batter took over the reins from KL Rahul who is now leading the Lucknow Franchise. Punjab had already decided to part ways with head coach Anil Kumble and is now considering sacking Mayank Agarwal as their captain.
The move to remove Anil Kumble as head coach was on the expected lines as the former Indian cricketer was not able to guide his team to a playoff spot in any of the last three seasons. Punjab is known to be in talks with Trevor Bayliss and Eoin Morgan for the coach’s role. However, a final decision has not been made in this regard.
Mayank’s removal could seem a bit surprising but as things stand, they are set to appoint a new captain in his place. The dashing England batter Jonny Bairstow is speculated to lead the side in the upcoming edition of the Indian T20 League.
Meanwhile, Agarwal wouldn’t be traded or released and will remain on the team as a player and not as a captain. “No Mayank is not in plans to lead. He will need to focus on batting. He will be a crucial player for us. As for Anil, we are discussing a few options but nothing has materialized yet. We have time left. We will take a call at the right time,” said an official of the Punjab franchise.
This year the ace Indian batter had his worst season in the Indian T20 League. The continuous experiment with his batting position also did not reap any dividends and he could only accumulate 196 runs at an average of 16.33 and a strike rate of 122.50. Following his poor run with the bat, Mayank was also dropped from the Indian Test team.
On the other hand, Bairstow is in form of his life and has been scoring heaps of runs for England. This can be one of the reasons to consider the English cricketer a good candidate to take the Punjab team forward. In the Indian T20 League 2022, he scored 253 runs from 11 matches with two half-centuries at a strike rate of 144.57
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