Anil Kumble's stint as Punjab Kings (PBKS) head coach has come to an end. The IPL franchise has decided not to renew Kumble's contract and look for other options moving ahead. The decision to part ways with the former Indian captain was taken by the top brass, including Bollywood actor Preity Zinta. The franchise is expected to announce their new head coach in the near future.
"Kumble's contract was for three years and now his term is over. It's a mutually taken decision and from here we will find out a suitable replacement for Kumble as the head coach post is vacant," sources in Punjab team told Sports Tak.
The legendary Indian spinner was appointed as the head coach of PBKS in 2020 but his tenure didn't pan out exactly the way the franchise would have hoped for. Punjab failed to qualify for the playoffs in all three seasons in which Kumble was in charge of the team.
During Kumble's reign, PBKS managed to win just 18 matches out of the 42 fixtures.
The recent development comes a day after the franchise issued a clarification statement surrounding whether they are looking for a new captain.
According to reports, PBKS were going to appoint the English wicketkeeper-batter Jonny Bairstow as their new skipper after a disappointing last season. The franchise finished sixth on the points table in the fifteenth edition of the IPL under Agarwal’s leadership.
PBKS captain, Agarwal had a season to forget with the bat as the Bengaluru-based batter managed to score mere 196 runs in 12 innings at a lowly strike rate of 122.5. The 31-year-old was also not able to fix a place for himself in the batting line-up.
The franchise broke silence on the speculations on their social media handle and said, “News reports published by a certain sports News website pertaining to captaincy of the Punjab Kings franchise has been making the rounds in the last few days. We would like to state that no official of the team has issued any statement on the same”.
