Chris Gayle expressed his disappointment at the way in which his former franchise Punjab Kings got rid of its last year's captain Mayank Agarwal. He also commented that the team has a tendency to chop and change at "ridiculous levels".
In the 2022 edition of IPL, Mayank had sacrificed his opening position to Jonny Bairstow at the top alongside Shikhar Dhawan midway into the tournament. Before the auctions, first he was replaced as a captain by Dhawan and then was released by the Punjab Kings.
Agarwal joined the Punjab franchise in 2018. He scored just 196 runs in 13 matches at an average of 16.33 in the last season.
In his IPL career, Mayank has played 113 matches and has scored 2327 runs with the highest score of 106 runs. He has an average of 22.59 and a strike rate of 134.28. He has smashed a century and 12 half-centuries so far.
Eventually, Punjab finished sixth for the fourth straight season highlighting their inconsistency. They are yet to win the IPL title as well, having reached the final only once in 2014.
Speaking to PTI, Gayle said Agarwal was not treated properly by the franchise and expects a big payday for him at the auction on Friday.
"Mayank will definitely get picked. I would be very disappointed if he doesn't. Because he is such an explosive player.
"He has probably hurt within himself at not being retained by Punjab after what he sacrificed for the franchise and to be treated like that is disappointing but I hope teams still believe in him and give him good money. He is a fantastic team man as well," said Gayle.
Gayle said an unsettled playing eleven has contributed to Punjab's inconsistency over the years.
"They chop and change man, it is ridiculous. You keep chopping and changing, they never have a set eleven whether you win a match. Sometimes they would go with the same team but so often players don't feel comfortable (with too many changes)
"When they do get a chance and IPL is already under pressure, so (with that sort of approach) you end up putting more excessive pressure and with that, you won't see them flourishing within the game."
(Inputs from PTI)
