Punjab Kings has reportedly decided to not renew the contract of head coach Trevor Bayliss as the franchise look to appoint an Indian in the role ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.
According to reports, the Punjab Kings made the decision not to renew head coach Trevor Bayliss’ contract as they seek to hire an Indian player for the position ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Notably, Bayliss had assumed Anil Kumble’s spot as the head coach of the Punjab Kings, signing a two-year contract ahead of the IPL 2022. However, the well-known Australian will likely leave the IPL alongside his fellow Aussie, Ricky Ponting, in September. According to Cricbuzz, PBKS wants to oust Bayliss and bring in an Indian coach in place of him. The team intends to adopt this strategy in consideration of former India cricketers like Ashish Nehra, Rahul Dravid, Gautam Gambir, and Chandrakant Pandit’s recent breakthrough.
Interestingly, it now appears that Sanjay Bangar is the likely choice to take over as head coach before the IPL 2025 Mega Auction; therefore, it won’t be simple for the Punjab Kings to find a suitable external player as other teams are likewise looking for people with the same attributes.
Meanwhile, it has also been reported that just two or three players are expected to be kept on while the rest are dismissed, signifying a significant revamp for PBKS—a team that stunned many last year with their player retentions. In addition to this, PBKS may choose to retain Arshdeep Singh, Shashank Singh, and Jitesh Sharma owing to their stellar IPL 2024.
Meanwhile, Shikhar Dhawan, who led the team in the last three seasons, will likely be released along with Sam Curran, the most expensive player on the squad, with the organisation aiming for a massive reconstruction and wanting the head coach to be part of their plans for the upcoming season.
According to the CricBuzz report, the board’s meeting was supposed to take place on July 22 in order to reach a decision about the new head coach. As a result, it appears that PBKS broadened its hunt in advance of the mega-auction that is set to take place later this year or around the start of 2025.
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