Newly appointed Punjab Kings skipper Mayank Agarwal believes that the franchise has built a title-winning squad for the IPL beginning March 26. After four seasons with the team, Agarwal has been given the leadership responsibility after the shift of his opening partner KL Rahul to the Lucknow franchise.
Agarwal amassed 400-plus runs in the last two seasons and formed one of the strongest opening pairings in the IPL alongside Rahul but the team failed to make the play-offs.
Punjab were praised for getting the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada, Liam Livingstone, Jonny Bairstow and Odean Smith at the IPL auction. Apart from the other retained player in Arshdeep Singh, Punjab also bought back uncapped power-hitter Shahrukh Khan. The team has underperformed for years and their only final appearance came way back in 2014. The management has pinned hopes on its latest recruits to change the team's fortunes.
"We like to believe that we do have a title winning squad and now it is upon us as players to execute our skills under pressure and see what we can make out of it," Agarwal told PTI on Saturday.
"As a team we have done a good job at the auction. We were looking at few skill sets knowing that the tournament will be played in Mumbai and we have covered those bases. We are happy with the balance we have in the side." As captain, his role in the side increases massively but as a batter, he feels nothing changes.
"When I am batting I am just a batsman. We have a lot of leaders and experience in the team and that makes it easier for me. I want to excel as a batsman and do the things I have been doing. (On the captaincy front) we have made our plans to take the team forward," said the India Test opener.
Agarwal is expected to open the batting alongside Dhawan but he did not reveal much on the combination.
"I can't talk about the batting order as of now but I can definitely say that we are excited to have Shikhar on board. He is an absolute livewire, a great entertainer, a massive performer and a lot of the guys will feed off his energy. He is also in a great mind space." Agarwal said conversations over him leading the side went on for a while and he is just excited about the opportunity. He captained Punjab Kings briefly last season when Rahul was injured and he feels that experience will help him this season.
"It definitely does help (having captained the team before). I have had a taste of what it feels like," he said, adding there is no additional pressure of not having won the title ever.
Punjab have rejigged their support staff ahead of the 2022 season and roped in power-hitting specialist Julian Wood. Agarwal said Wood brings "something different" to the table.
"Woody is a top guy. We have had couple of sessions together. He has got different ideas about the game, it is fantastic to work with him. He is quite flexible and is spending a lot of time with each batsman.
"He is not just talking about power hitting, he is analysing what their strengths are and try and then maximise their potential. He has been a great addition to the team and we look forward to executing the skills that he has been teaching us," he added.
Meanwhile, Punjab Kings will clash with Royal Challengers Bangalore in their IPL opener on March 27.
Here is the full schedule of Punjab Kings for IPL 2022:
March 27, Punjab Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, 7:30 PM, DY Patil Stadium
April 1, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Punjab Kings, 7:30 PM, Wankhede Stadium
April 3, Chennai Super Kings vs Punjab Kings, 7:30 PM, Brabourne – CCI
April 8, Punjab Kings vs Gujarat Titans, 7:30 PM, Brabourne – CCI
April 13, Mumbai Indians vs Punjab Kings, 7:30 PM, MCA Stadium, Pune
April 17, Punjab Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, 3:30 PM, DY Patil Stadium
April 20, Delhi Capitals vs Punjab Kings, 7:30 PM, MCA Stadium, Pune
April 25, Punjab Kings vs Chennai Super Kings, 7:30 PM, Wankhede Stadium
April 29, Punjab Kings vs Lucknow Super Giants, 7:30 PM, MCA Stadium, Pune
May 3, Gujarat Titans vs Punjab Kings, 7:30 PM, DY Patil Stadium
May 7, Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals, 3:30 PM, Wankhede Stadium
May 13, Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Punjab Kings , 7:30 PM, Brabourne – CCI
May 16, Punjab Kings vs Delhi Capitals, 7:30 PM, DY Patil Stadium
May 22, Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Punjab Kings, 7:30 PM, Wankhede Stadium
Punjab Kings' squad: Mayank Agarwal, Liam Livingstone, Kagiso Rabada, Shahrukh Khan, Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow, Odean Smith, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Prabhsimran Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Ishan Porel, Jitesh Sharma, Raj Angad Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Prerak Mankad, Vaibhav Arora, Writtick Chatterjee, Baltej Dhanda, Ansh Patel, Nathan Ellis, Atharva Taide, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Benny Howell.
