Amidst several reports floating around with regards to IPL franchise Punjab Kings likely to sack their captain Mayank Agarwal ahead of the 2023 season, the franchise has released a note refuting all the rumours and claimed that there is no such comment from any team official. Earlier, reports claimed that Punjab Kings will not only part ways with head coach Anil Kumble but also with Agarwal.
A source close to the development claimed that the franchise is already in talks with the players like Eoin Morgan, Trevor Bayliss and a former Indian coach for the role as they are set to sack Anil Kumble from the position following yet another disappointing season in the recently concluded IPL 2022. Punjab Kings finished sixth in the points table despite starting off well.
The franchise roped in a couple of quality players in the squad like Jonny Bairstow, Shikhar Dhawan before IPL 2022 but still nothing could change their fortunes. A report published in Inside Sport claimed that the franchise is likely to appoint Jonny Bairstow as a captain of the squad and would suggest Mayank Agarwal to focus on his batting.
However, the Punjab Kings franchise in its note made it clear that such reports are false and no team officials have made any comment in regards to a change in captaincy. "News report published by a certain sports News Website pertaining to captaincy of the Punjab Kings franchise has been making the rounds in the last few days. We would like to state that no team official has issued any statement on the same," read PBKS statement.
Interestingly, Punjab Kings' statement didn't reject the rumor surrounding the sacking of Anil Kumble which confirms the possibility of a new head coach being appointed ahead of the fresh season.
Notably, Mayank Agarwal's appointment came after India's top-order batter KL Rahul stepped down from the captaincy and parted his way ahead of the IPL 2022 auction. Rahul was roped in by Lucknow Super Giants as a captain and did phenomenally well as a batter. Meanwhile, Mayank Agarwal was hot and cold throughout the season and could not inspire the franchise secure a Playoff berth. Despite being the opener, Mayank opted to bat lower down the order on quite a few occasions but finished with 196 runs in 13 games at an average of 16.33 at a strike rate of 112.50.