Wasim Jaffer appointed as Head Coach of Punjab state team ahead of domestic season, confirms PCA President
Published - 03 Aug 2024, 03:10 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 01:16 AM
The Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) has appointed former Indian cricketer Wasim Jaffer as the head coach of the senior men's team for the upcoming domestic season. Wasim Jaffer has been unanimously chosen over former Australian fast bowler Shaun Tait as head coach of the Punjab state team.
There were rumors that Wasim Jaffer might take over from Trevor Bayliss as head coach of the Punjab Kings (PBKS) for the IPL 2025 season. Jaffer worked as the team's batting coach from 2019 to 2021 and later served as a batting consultant. He stepped down from his position before the IPL 2024 auction.
The 46-year-old also worked as head coach with Uttarakhand and Odisha state cricket teams. Jaffer faced accusations of selection bias from players during his time with Uttarakhand. The former Indian opening batter eventually resigned from the role mid-season. He later denied the allegations against him.
Wasim Jaffer Will Motive The Team To Achieve Success - Amarjeet Singh Mehta
PCA President Amarjeet Singh Mehta confirmed the appointment of Wasim Jaffer as the head coach of the Punjab men's senior team. Amarjeet stated that Jaffer's experience and expertise would inspire the team to success. He added that the PCA didn't want to miss out on the opportunity of working with him.
“Our main aim is to win the Ranji Trophy and also Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, so we unanimously decided to appoint him as the head coach. With his experience and expertise, we are confident that Jaffer will motivate the team to achieve success. He is one of the best longer format players in the country, and we did not want to miss out on the opportunity of having him on board,” Amarjeet Singh Mehta told Sportstar.
The PCA President highlighted that Punjab has performed well in white-ball cricket recently and now wants to focus on achieving consistency in red-ball cricket.
“We have done reasonably well in white-ball cricket lately, but we want to be consistent in red-ball cricket and that’s why we thought of looking at Jaffer,” Mehta said.
Last season, Punjab won the Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy under former Indian cricketer Aavishkar Salvi. Salvi has moved to the National Cricket Academy, and skipper Mandeep Singh will join Tripura. Salvi is currently working as the bowling coach for the India women’s cricket team.
In the 2022-23 season, Punjab reached the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals but lost to Saurashtra and failed to qualify for the knockouts in the latest edition.
Wasim Jaffer is the highest run-scorer in Ranji Trophy history. He scored 12,038 runs in 238 innings in the tournament during his career. The former right-handed batter led the Mumbai state team to two Ranji titles in 2008-09 and 2009-10. He also captained West Zone to a Duleep Trophy victory in early 2010.
