In what could prove to be an important move, reports in the Times of India have now emerged that Kings XI Punjab may replace present head coach Sanjay Bangar with former India opener and current mentor of the franchise Virender Sehwag for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League.
This comes after the finalists of the 2014 edition and Bangar parted ways on Friday and as per the same report, it is learnt that the former India all-rounder may have put in his papers last month, owing to an argument with the owner of the team Preity Zinta following the string of losses that the team suffered in Season 9.
“The decision was taken in the last week of November. I offered my resignation to the (Kings XI) board and they recently accepted my resignation,” Bangar told the Hindustan Times.
“It is a professional set-up. The IPL is a model which is run on producing results. In the course of the tournament, there are debates and deliberations. You take certain decisions and there are some which are right and there are some which don’t go your way. It is all a part and parcel. We as professionals need to accept this thing. (For the last) two seasons we didn’t get the results we wanted. It was time to move on and let fresh ideas come in,”
The Kings XI Punjab had a total contrast of a season last year as compared to 2014, finishing as the wooden spooners with 8 points in 14 matches. David Miller was appointed as the captain at the start of the season, but after a poor beginning was replaced by Murali Vijay mid-way through the season.
The team have not had the best of times in the league, having made it to the final four just once barring the instance in 2014 and having finished last on two other instances, other than last year in 2010 and 2015.
If Sehwag is indeed confirmed as the new head coach of the team, then it could be the second time in the last few months that an Indian cricketer has been given the responsibility of becoming the head coach of a leading team with little experience at the top.
The 38-year-old’s former Indian captain Anil Kumble was in June handed over the reigns of the Indian cricket team with no prior experience as a head coach and so far, it has proven to be a good decision with the team winning every Test series that they have played under him.
Can Sehwag also bring about a similar change in the Punjab franchise? The answer to that we will surely know soon.
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