Wasim Jaffer is scheduled to be named the Punjab Kings head coach

Wasim Jaffer, a former Indian cricket player, will soon take up his position as head coach of the Punjab Kings (PBKS) franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL). This happened just one day after rumours started circulating that the team is trying to find an Indian coach.

According to the Indian Express, Wasim Jaffer will return to the Mohali-based side for the 18th Indian Premier League season, his third with the group.

Wasim Jaffer coached PBKS’s batting team from 2019 to 2021, but he left before the IPL 2022 auction. Before last season, he was relieved of his batting consultant duties.

The team’s hitting performance was subpar during his two terms as batting coach (from 2019 to 2021) and batting consultant (2023). With a run rate of 8.63 and a total of just 9,482 runs in 1,100 overs, they performed worse than the majority of other teams over that same period of time.

Jaffer, who has played 31 Test matches for India, will face a significant obstacle when he returns to the Punjab Kings lineup. One of the eight founding IPL teams, the squad has struggled to make the playoffs ten times in a row since their lone trip to the IPL championship in 2014. They suffered a heartbreaking three-wicket loss to the Kolkata Knight Riders in that game at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

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When they freed the Indian domestic legend of his role inside the franchise, PBKS did in fact suffer a major setback. Out of ten franchises, they languished in ninth position, barely ahead of the Mumbai Indians, who took the bottom spot in the standings.