Anubhav Katheria
Wasim Jaffer is set to make a comeback in the IPL and rejoin Punjab Kings, he is going to replace Trevor Bayliss as the head coach of the franchise. Trevor who’s 2-year contract with the franchise has ended. It will be Jaffer’s third stint with the team; he was the batting coach of the team between 2019-21 but stepped down from the position before the 2022 IPL mega auction.
Punjab Kings finished 9th on the points table, and this was the 10th consecutive time that the team has failed to qualify for the playoffs. Punjab has only played one IPL final which was way back in 2014 where they lost to KKR. Punjab Kings is looking for an overhaul ahead of the 2025 mega auction and there are reports that Wasim Jafer will return to the franchise as head coach. There was news circulating that PBKs is looking for an Indian coach and now their former batting coach’s name has come to light.
Jaffer’s Cricketing Career
Wasim Jaffer is a former Indian cricketer who was a right-handed opening batsman. He has played 31 Tests for India and has scored 1944 runs with an average of 34.10, he has 5 centuries and 11 half-centuries by his name, in the format. He didn’t play many ODIs and T20Is, he played 2 ODIs and scored 10 runs and in T20Is he scored 616 runs in 23 matches.
However, this is nothing in front of his First-class cricket stats, he played for the Mumbai in the domestic cricket where he has played 260 matches and 421 innings, he has scored 19410 runs with an average of 50.67, he has 51 centuries and 91 half centuries by his name in first class cricket. He scored a triple century in his second match of first-class cricket. He is currently the highest run-scorer in Ranji Trophy.
Jaffer’s Coaching Career
Since his retirement in 2020, Jafer has worked as the Chief coach of Uttarakhand and Odisha, he was the batting coach of Punjab Kings from 2019 to 2021 in the IPL and he was the batting coach of Bangladesh U-19 cricket team as well.
