"He has probably hurt within himself" - Chris Gayle sympathizes with Mayank Agarwal after he was released by Punjab Kings
Veteran West Indian opener Chris Gayle has expressed disappointment at the way the Punjab Kings have treated Mayank Agarwal. He believes the right-handed batter has a lot to offer and feels franchises will splurge big money on him at the Indian Premier League (IPL) mini-auction.
Agarwal, who captained Punjab Kings in the 2022 edition, wasn't retained ahead of the upcoming edition of the IPL. The 31-year-old had scored only 196 runs in 13 games at 16.33 at a strike rate of 122.50 in the 2022 edition.
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In an interaction arranged by Jio Cinema ahead of the IPL auction, Gayle reckoned the Karnataka batter has been hurt after being released by the franchise. Labelling Agarwal as a team man, he said:
"Mayank will definitely get picked. I would be very disappointed if he doesn’t because he is such an explosive player. 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."
Having released Mayank Agarwal, the franchise has appointed Shikhar Dhawan as their skipper. Agarwal will enter the upcoming IPL auction with a base price of INR 1 crore.
"They chop and change" - Chris Gayle on his experience with Punjab Kings
The Jamaican, who played for the Punjab Kings for four years, highlighted the management's approach of chopping and changing, claiming that it puts undue pressure on players. Gayle added:
"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 you end putting more excessive pressure and with that, you won’t see them flourishing within the game.”
Shikhar Dhawan has been named as the new captain of the Punjab Kings for IPL 2023.
He becomes the 14th captain of the Punjab franchise in IPL history.
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Punjab Kings finished sixth in the IPL 2022 points table, winning and losing seven games each.