The veteran Wasim Jaffer has been appointed as the batting coach of Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) for the upcoming IPL edition. The franchise has announced his name through the official website. He is ready to enter the tournament as the coach for the first time.
Jaffer is an experienced domestic player as he has played 254 first-class matches. He is the first to play 150 Ranji Trophy matches. His knowledge with the newly appointed coach Anil Kumble will be significant for KXIP. Sunil Joshi, Courtney Walsh and Jonty Rhodes are the other members of the staff.
Wasim Jaffer has huge experiences as a player
Although Jaffer has not much experience of coaching, he was the batting consultant for Bangladesh in the ODIs after the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. Currently, he has been with Vidarbha as mentor cum player. He is about to reach a new milestone of his career as he is moving to become the first to score 20,000 runs in first-class cricket. Jaffer is around 800 runs away to achieve the rare feat.
Kings XI Punjab In IPL 2020 Auction
The Punjab-based franchise will enter the auction with the big purse value. They have a budget of Rs 42.70 crore. The franchise needs to fill only nine slots (5 domestic, 4 overseas).
KXIP will eye of the players who can strengthen their middle-order batting and overall bowling department. They also need a captain after the franchise traded Ravichandran Ashwin. Well, KL Rahul can become the captain, but it would be an added pressure for him which might impact his performance. If not him, the franchise might buy a player from the auction.
Retained players: KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Mohammed Shami, Nicholas Pooran, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Chris Gayle, Mandeep Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Hardus Viljoen, Darshan Nalkande, Sarfaraz Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar and Murugan Ashwin.
Released players: Varun Chakravarthy, Andrew Tye, Sam Curran, Simran Singh, David Miller, Moises Henriques and Agnivesh Ayachi.