Punjab Kings (PBKS) appoint Sunil Joshi as spin bowling coach for IPL 2023

Punjab Kings (PBKS) appointed former Indian spinner Sunil Joshi as their spin bowling coach for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 on Monday, January 16.

The former Karnataka cricketer has worked with the Bangladesh side before as a spin consultant. He worked with the likes of Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mossadek Hussain, and Shakib Al Hasan. Joshi also served as the chief selector of the senior men's team before Chetan Sharma took over in 2022.

The franchise took to their social media platforms to make the announcement of signing the 52-year-old as their spin bowling coach.

"We are excited to announce that former Indian left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi has been appointed as Punjab Kings Spin Bowling Coach. #SherSquad, let's give him a warm welcome!" PBKS' statement read.

We are excited to announce that former Indian left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi has been appointed as Punjab Kings Spin Bowling Coach. 🤩

#SherSquad, let's give him a warm welcome! 🙏🏽

#SaddaPunjab #PunjabKings #SunilJoshi @SunilJoshi_Spin https://t.co/MN459TEuK5

Joshi featured in 15 Tests and 69 One-Day International matches for Team India between 1996 and 2001. He was a left-arm orthodox spin bowler, who accounted for 110 wickets in international cricket (41 in Tests and 69 in ODIS).

Joshi also played for Karnataka in domestic cricket, appearing in 160 first-class matches, 163 List A matches, and 15 T20 matches. He has 615 wickets at an average of 25.12 and 5129 runs to his name in red-ball cricket.

Joshi also featured in four IPL games for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in IPL 2008, including the first IPL match against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

Punjab Kings' coaching staff for IPL 2023

In September 2022, the 2014 IPL finalists appointed England's World Cup-winning coach Trevor Bayliss as head coach. Bayliss was the coach at Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) when the franchise lifted the coveted trophy in 2012 and 2014.

The Australia-born coach was also the head coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Former Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin will be the assistant coach to Bayliss for IPL 2023, while former Indian batter Wasim Jaffer was reappointed as batting coach by PBKS.

🚨 JUST IN 🚨

Trevor Bayliss appointed as the new head coach of Punjab Kings 🏏

#punjabkings #IPL2023 #trevorbayliss #CricketTwitter https://t.co/R9pN1GWIbk

Punjab Kings named experienced player Shikhar Dhawan as the new captain of the franchise after Mayank Agarwal was released from the squad ahead of the IPL 2023 auction in December last year.

PBKS bought six players in the mini-auction at the end of 2022 to complete their squad with 22 members. The franchise made headlines for bagging the most expensive deal in IPL history, with the signing of England all-rounder Sam Curran for a whopping amount of ₹18.5 crore.

Punjab Kings squad for IPL 2023: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Shahrukh Khan, Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma, Raj Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Arshdeep Singh, Baltej Singh, Nathan Ellis, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Brar, Sam Curran, Sikandar Raza, Harpreet Bhatia, Vidwath Kaverappa, Mohit Rathee, and Shivam Singh.