Andy Flower has stepped down as the assistant coach of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Punjab Kings (PBKS) and is most likley to sign a new contract with one of the two new franchise for the next season of the cash-rich league.
Flower, the former Zimbabwe captain, had earlier worked as a coach in England for more than ten years. He was signed by PBKS ahead of the 2020 season of IPL. It was under Flower’s guidance when the England team had won the T20 World Cup title in 2010 and the number one spot in the Test rankings.
“It is correct, Andy has left Punjab Kings. He wanted to explore other opportunities and we respect that,” Punjab Kings co-owner Ness Wadia was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
Wadia, however, said that Flower will continue to remain the head coach of their Caribbean Premier League (CPL) franchise St Lucia Zouks.
The development comes at a time when KL Rahul, the PBKS captain for the past two IPL seasons, decided to part ways with the Punjab-based franchise, which had wanted to retain him for the upcoming season.
Earlier on Tuesday, Punjab had retained only two players — Mayank Agarwal and Arshdeep Singh — ahead of the mega IPL auction in January.
Meanwhile, several reports also suggest that Trevor Bayliss has too, decided to part his ways with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
Apart from the IPL, Bayliss, considered as one of the most successful coaches in the sport, had guided England to the Ashes and World Cup victories.
Bayliss had previously led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to two IPL titles – in 2012 and 2014 – before coaching the England team.
The reports further suggest that both Flower and Bayliss are going to be associated with the Lucknow franchise while KL Rahul is also most likley to lead the side in the next IPL season.
Notably on October 25 in Dubai, the Sanjeev Goenka-owned RPSG group had acquired the Lucknow franchise for Rs 7090 crores. On the other hand, the Ahmedabad franchise went to CVC Sports for Rs 5625 crore.
Now after acquiring the teams, both the parties will pay the entire amount over a period of 10 years.
These new franchises – Ahmedabad and Lucknow – will now be a part of the 15th edition of the lucrative league, taking the total number of teams to 10 from eight.
The next edition of IPL is likley to be staged in the March-April window and a mega auction for it will most probably be held in January, 2022.