Ahead of the 17th edition of the Indian Premier League, Punjab Kings have made a key change to their support staff. The Kings have released former Indian cricketer Wasim Jaffer from the role of batting consultant, PTI reported. Meanwhile, Sanjay Bangar's role has doubled up.
Jaffer rejoined the PBKS side for the last season of the tournament as a batting coach in head coach Travis Bayliss' team. But they now have Bangar as their cricket director. The 51-year-old has been India's batting coach previously and as he is there with PBKS, Jaffer has been released. Bangar will take the batting coach's role too.
Notably, PBKS made several changes to their support staff ahead of the previous season of IPL. They appointed Bayliss as their head coach, replacing Anil Kumble in that role. The PBKS side also roped in Charl Langeveldt and Brad Haddin in bowling and assistant coach roles, respectively last year. Langeveldt and Haddin continue in the same role for the 2024 season as of now.
PBKS have been perennial under-performers in the Indian cash-rich league. They made it to the final only in 2014 and into the knockouts only once before in 2008.
Notably, there is some good news for the PBKS fans. England's wicket-keeper batter Jonny Bairstow will reportedly be available for the full season of the tournament. This comes amidst the England players pulling out of the Indian cash-rich league. Ben Stokes, Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson and Joe Root have already pulled out from the tournament.
Meanwhile, there is a fresh addition to the list with Harry Brook also opting out of the tournament due to personal reasons. Brook was also not part of the Test series against India due to personal reasons.
Returning to Bairstow, the English wicket-keeper recently played his 100th Test match at Dharamsala in the 5th Test against India. He had a poor run in the Test series against India. He made only 208 runs from the 10 innings.
