Chris Gayle, the legendary West Indian cricketer, said on Thursday that it was unfortunate to see Punjab Kings release Mayank Agarwal considering all of his services to the previous finalists over the years. Gayle believes Agarwal is upset at being released ahead of the IPL 2023 auction.
In IPL 2022, Mayank Agarwal headed Punjab Kings after KL Rahul went to Lucknow Super Giants. Between 2018 and 2022, the India opener was one of the most consistent players for PBKS in the IPL, with 1513 runs, including a century, in 60 matches.
Mayank even gave up his opening place to ensure that Jonny Bairstow and Shikhar Dhawan opened for PBKS in the middle of the IPL 2022.
However, they were once again unable to qualify for the play-offs. PBKS finished sixth out of ten teams in 2022, having not qualified for the playoffs since 2014.
PBKS named Shikhar Dhawan as their new captain ahead of the IPL 2023 auction, with the team carrying a purse of Rs 32.2 crore.
"Mayank will definitely get picked. I would be very disappointed if he doesn't. Because he is such an explosive player," Gayle told news agency PTI.
"He has probably hurt within himself at not being retained by Punjab after what he sacrificed for the franchise and to be treated like that is disappointing but I hope teams still believe in him and give him good money. He is a fantastic team man as well," he added.
Shedding light on Punjab's repeated failures, Gayle claimed it's hard to climb into the top 4 with a side that doesn't believe in consistency, claiming the chopping and changing at PBKS is "Ridiculous".
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"They chop and change man, it is ridiculous. You keep chopping and changing, they never have a set eleven whether you win a match. Sometimes they would go with the same team but so often players don't feel comfortable.
"When they do get a chance and IPL is already pressure, so (with that sort of approach) you end putting more excessive pressure and with that you won't see them flourishing within the game."
Additionally, the Punjab Kings sacked head coach Anil Kumble and replaced him with Trevor Bayliss for the 2023 campaign.
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