Punjab Kings, previously known as Kings XI Punjab, has not been a very successful franchise in the IPL as they have managed to play the final only once out of 15 times where they lost to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) back in 2014. They changed their name in February 2021, hoping that their fortunes will also change, but nothing like that happened.
Punjab’s team management, the leadership group, has changed every season, providing zero stability in their dugout. Today, we will have a look at something similar, which is, Punjab Kings and their annual captaincy changes.
In the 2021 season, their captain was KL Rahul and their coach was Anil Kumble. The team didn’t qualify for the playoffs and finished sixth on the points table. Next year, the owners changed the management again and made Mayank Agarwal the captain, who had zero experience of captaincy before at such a big stage, even though Shikhar Dhawan was there in the team.
The team, Punjab Kings, failed to qualify for the playoffs this time too (IPL 2022) and while announcing the retentions for next year’s IPL, they again changed the captain to Shikhar Dhawan and released Mayank Agarwal from the team. They also changed their coaching staff this time around, making Trevor Bayliss the head coach as he has replaced Anil Kumble in the position.
Understandably, the franchise owners need results from the team as they invest a lot and surely want to enjoy the rewards. But, changing the captain every year isn’t going to take them anywhere. Every captain has a different way of running the team and he needs some time with the group.
You cannot expect a person who is captaining for the first time to win you the trophy in his first attempt. They have changed their captain every year for the past three seasons, which shows how clueless and unstable the management is. I think changing the captain before IPL 2022 was necessary for them as KL Rahul wanted to leave the team before the mega auction.
But, they made the wrong decision of making Mayank Agarwal the captain as it affected his game too. In a tournament like IPL, where the games are so fast-paced, a new captain doesn’t get much time to think about what to do. That is where experience counts in and a more experienced player should lead the team. If you are making a rookie the captain, you should persist with him for at least 2-3 years so that he can correct his mistakes from the previous tournament and improve the game.
I think they have taken a good decision of making Shikhar Dhawan the captain this time, but again, Dhawan is in the end stage of his career and might play one more IPL after this at max as the main player in any team. Punjab Kings from here on should start grooming a young player with Shikhar Dhawan for the captaincy role.
Dhawan can lead the team from here for the next two years, to say the least, and then can hand over the captaincy to the other player. If Punjab Kings stay persistent with the same captain and provide him with the proper team and resources, I am pretty sure that they can go all the way and win the trophy.
