Indian batsman Mayank Agarwal is set to lead the Punjab Kings franchise in the upcoming edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. In all likelihood, Agarwal will now become the skipper of the Punjab-based franchise after the departure of last season’s leader KL Rahul. It is important to mention that Rahul was previously roped in by the Lucknow franchise and the Indian batter will be seen leading the Lucknow team in the 15th edition of IPL.
The appointment
A source told Sports Tak that the team management wanted to have Mayank and it was unanimously decided to give him the captaincy, though initially some officials were in favour of Shikhar Dhawan also but during the final meeting everyone voted for Mayank.
It is worth mentioning that Mayank was retained by Punjab Kings franchise during the retention period before the mega auction. Along with Mayank another cricketer- Arshdeep Singh was also roped in for Rs 4 crore. Mayank on the other hand, was signed for Rs 12 crore.
New signings
At the mega auction, Punjab Kings had landed players like Shikhar Dhawan (Rs 8.25 crore), Liam Livingstone ( Rs 11.5 crore), Kagiso Rabada ( Rs 9.25 crore), Odeon Smith (Rs 6 crore), Jonny Bairstow (Rs 6.75 crore).
There were plenty of peculations about who will lead the Punjab Kings team in IPL 2022. After the signing of Indian opening batter Shikhar Dhawan, rumours were that the southpaw will be seen leading the Punjab team. Though, Mayank was always in contention for the top post. And now it is understood that all the speculations are over and Mayank will be the new captain of the Punjab Kings franchise.
With the addition of two new teams- Lucknow and Ahmedabad, the 2022 edition of IPL will have 10 teams vying for the prestigious Indian Premier League trophy.
Punjab Kings squad: Mayank Agarwal, Prerak Mankad, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Shahrukh Khan, Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Benny Howell, Baltej Singh, Ansh Patel, Liam Livingstone, Rishi Dhawan, Atharva Taide, Odean Smith, Raj Bawa, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh, Writtick Chatterjee, Sandeep Sharma, Nathan Elis, Vaibhav Arora, Ishan Porel, Rahul Chaha
