Former Zimbabwe player and Multan Sultans head coach Andy Flower has left the Pakistan Super League (PSL) halfway and traveled to India to take part in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 mega auction. Flower will be in India for the two-day mega auction which is scheduled to happen in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13. Flower is the head coach of the new IPL franchise, Lucknow Super Giants.
According to Multan Sultans' media department, Flower will be available virtually and will return to Pakistan on February 13.
The PSL franchise Multan will be without the services of Flower for at least 10 days.
"I am incredibly excited to be joining the new Lucknow franchise and I am very grateful for the opportunity. The passion for cricket in India is unrivaled and it is a real privilege to lead an IPL franchise and I am looking forward to working closely with Dr. Goenka and the Lucknow team," said Flower in a statement.
Sultans will face Peshawar Zalmi on February 5 and February 10 and will lock horns with Lahore Qalandars on February 11.
Flower will rejoin the side before the match against Karachi Kings on February 16.
Pakistan's former leg-spinner, Mushtaq Ahmed, and other coaches will guide the squad in his absence.
There are also speculations about Flower being considered for the England head coach's job.
Flower has coached the England team in the past.
Earlier, Flower sent his resignation to the Punjab Kings just a few days after KL Rahul, captain of the team since 2020, chose not to continue with them. Rahul will also lead the Lucknow franchise.
A total of 590 players will be auctioned at the IPL 2022 mega auction of which 370 are Indians and 220 overseas.
There are 228 capped players while 355 are uncapped and 7 belong to Associate nation players at the IPL 2022 mega auction.
Earlier, in an interview with the Sportstar, BCCI president, Sourav Ganguly revealed that Mumbai and Pune will be hosting the league stage matches while the venues for the knockouts will be decided later.
Ganguly said, “It (IPL 2022) will be held in India this year, until and unless the COVID-19 hits the roof. So far, it has been decided that the IPL will be played in India. As far as venues are concerned, we are looking at hosting the matches in Maharashtra - Mumbai and Pune. We will then take a call on the venue for the knockout stages.”
Mumbai houses three cricket stadiums out of which Wankhede tops the charts of popularity while they m also have the DY Patil Stadium and the CCI Brabourne stadium. Pune has one stadium that can perfectly play host to the electrifying IPL fixtures.
As per reports, there are plans of allowing 25 per cent crowd into the stadium for the IPL matches. The same report also suggested that the play-offs maybe going to Ahmedabad. The IPL 2022 will be on for two months from the end of March to the end of May.
