The mega auction for the IPL 2022 will take place on February 12 and February 13, in Bengaluru. But even before the auction could start, the Punjab Kings side had to suffer a big blow after Wasim Jaffer decided to step down as the batting coach of the team.
In his inimitable style, Jaffer had posted a meme while announcing his decision to step down as the batting coach of the Punjab Kings side. The meme posted by Jaffer had a photo of Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor from a 2016 Bollywood movie ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.’
Jaffer's tweet
“Adios, and thank you @PunjabKingsIPL, it’s been a pleasure. Wishing @anilkumble1074 and the team very best for #IPL2022,” wrote Jaffer in his tweet.
The former Indian batsman had joined the Punjab side as a batting coach in 2019 and he worked with the Punjab team management for two IPL seasons.
Jaffer had played 31 Tests for the national team and 2 ODI matches. In the shortest format of the game he had scored 1944 runs at an average of 34.10. His highest score in Test cricket has been 212. Jaffer notched five centuries and 11 half centuries in Test cricket and has a strike rate of 48.05.
In First Class cricket, the Maharashtra-born cricketer had played in more than 250 matches and has 19410 runs in his kitty. He has a highest score of 314 (not out) in this format with 57 centuries and 91 half centuries. His average in this format has been an impressive 50.67.
In IPL he has been a part of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) side previously as a player.
IPL 2022 mega auction
Ahead of the 2022 IPL mega auction, Punjab Kings had retained two players out of four allowed slots. And those two players are- Indian batter Mayank Agarwal (Rs 12 Crore) and Arshdeep Singh (Rs 4 Crore). They also decided to release their last season’s skipper KL Rahul as well. Rahul might have failed to help his side in winning the title but his batting was lethal enough to terrify the opponent bowlers.
Eventually, Rahul was picked up by the new IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants, as the captain of their side.
