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Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Punjab Kings are all set to appoint World Cup-winning coach Trevor Bayliss as their new head coach ahead of the 2023 season. The Australian will replace Anil Kumble who recently parted ways with the Punjab-based franchise.
The 59-year-old from New South Wales is an IPL regular and most recently coached the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Notably, Punjab Kings failed to qualify for the playoffs last season and in the two seasons before that, under Kumble.
In fact, the Kings have not made it into the playoffs since 2015. The team has reached an IPL final only once (in 2014 when they finished as the runner-up). Therefore, the management has decided to rope in Bayliss who also coached England to the 2019 World Cup title. Besides this, the Australian also headed the support staff of Kolkata Knight Riders when they won IPL in 2012 and 2014.
"The team has decided to go ahead with Trevor who is among the best in the business and has a proven record. The management is hoping that the team goes on to win the title under his guidance," an IPL source was quoted saying by the news agency PTI. The report further claimed that the paperwork will be completed in due course.
Mayank Agarwal, Trevor Bayliss expected to do wonders
Punjab Kings are one of the three franchises that have been part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) since its inception but have not won a title yet. The team has blown hot and cold over seasons. Their performance in IPL 2022 was a summary of how things have been for Punjab over the years. The Mayank Agarwal-led team failed to register consecutive wins and thus finished out of the top four.
With a string of bad performances, the management tried a new captain as they appointed Mayank Agarwal as their leader after KL Rahul’s exit. However, that too did not augur well for PBKS. Now, the management has given try a new coach who has had a good experience in the Indian T20 league. Now the captain-coach duo of Mayank Agarwal and Trevor Bayliss are expected to do wonders for the team in IPL 2023.