Mayank Agarwal is set to captain Punjab Kings in a full-time capacity in IPL 2022, which will be the 15th edition of the tournament. Agarwal pipped over senior opener Shikhar Dhawan for the captaincy role.
Punjab Kings had retained only 2 players – Mayank Agarwal and Arshdeep Singh – ahead of the mega-auction and went in with a massive purse with the help of which they managed some big-name signings, including Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Shahrukh Khan, and Kagiso Rabada.
One of their major releases was KL Rahul, who captained Punjab in the last two seasons, and himself had decided to part ways with the franchise for various reasons, was appointed as the captain of the Lucknow Super Giants, one of the two new franchises in the league.
Mayank Agarwal, who has played 100 IPL games in his career, captained Punjab in one match last season – versus Delhi Capitals – when KL Rahul was injured. Agarwal has had prolific last two seasons for Punjab with the bat – scoring over 400 runs in each of the last two IPL seasons, and being the aggressor at the top while Rahul played the anchor role to build the innings.
“In all likelihood, Mayank will captain the side. The announcement is expected later this week,” an IPL source told PTI.
Dhawan, previously with Delhi Capitals, was bought by Punjab for INR 8.25 crore. Having led Sunrisers Hyderabad previously for 16 matches in 2013-14 and being a seasoned campaigner, Dhawan was a big contender for the captaincy job at Punjab. However, the Kings “were keen” with Agarwal at the helm after Rahul departed from the side.
“Dhawan is a welcome addition to the side and was always on the radar at the auction. He is a champion player but it seems Punjab were keen on Mayank as captain ever since K. L. Rahul left the team,” the source added.
With 10 teams, the IPL will be a 70-match tournament, Cricbuzz reported. 55 matches will be held across three venues – Wankhede Stadium, Brabourne Stadium and DY Patil Stadium – in Mumbai and 15 matches at the MCA International Stadium in Pune. The tournament will start either on March 26 or 27 and will go on until the end of May.
Punjab Kings Squad: Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Prabhsimran Singh, Odean Smith, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Porel, Sandeep Sharma, Atharva Taide, Vaibhav Arora, Ansh Patel, Raj Angad Bawa, Benny Howell, Rishi Dhawan, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Baltej Singh, Writtick Chatterjee, Nathan Ellis, Prerak Mankad.
