Wasim Jaffer Appointed as New Head Coach of Punjab Cricket
The former Indian and Mumbai opening batsman, Wasim Jaffer, has been freshly appointed as head coach for Punjab Cricket. Though Punjab Cricket Association has not registered any appointment regarding the same, PCA Secretary Dilsher Khanna told Times of India that Jaffer has agreed to the role and is all set to take charge of the team for the coming season. On the capabilities front well Khanna was gung-ho about Jaffer. He said the latter has a lot of experience as a player, even as a coach.
New Era of Punjab Cricket
The appointment of Jaffer opens a very exciting chapter in the history of Punjab cricket since the team won their first title in a row after that historic win last season by the same team in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. “PCA is looking to take that forward and would look for better cricketing standards with Jaffer at the helm,” he added.
A Competitive Selection Process
Jaffer sealed the coaching job after going through a tough selection process, which also included former Australian fast bowler Shaun Tait. This will not be the first time Jaffer has worked as a head coach, for he has done so at Uttarakhand and Orissa. His huge experience in the capacity of head coach, more so at the domestic level, makes him just the right man for this pivotal assignment.
Before his move to this new position, Jaffer was also the batting coach of the Punjab Kings side, representing the Indian Premier League from 2019 to 2021. He had worked as a batting consultant with the Bangladesh Under-19 team and their high-performance side.
The former Mumbai and India cricketer will be replacing Aavishkar Salvi as head coach. Salvi too played a major role in Punjab’s recent successes when he helped the team win their first-ever Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy. Salvi later joined BCCI’s National Cricket Academy after serving effectively in the role and is currently the bowling coach of the Indian women’s team.
Under Salvi, Punjab looked an improved and much more competitive unit, so Jaffer has to take it from that base. His invaluable knowledge about the game and its intricacies, mixed with pure strategy insights, would surely help the team repeat and do even better than what they could pull off this past season.
Storied Playing Career
Wasim Jaffer represented India for a career spanning two decades, during which he made contributions of great worth to Indian cricket. He had scored 1,944 runs in a total of 31 Tests at an average of 34.10, with five centuries. He played only two ODIs. But on the domestic circuit, Jaffer was a force, scoring 19,410 runs in 260 First-Class games with 57 centuries.
He is also the highest run-getter in Ranji Trophy history, with 12,038 runs from 238 innings in the tournament. He was at the centre of the Mumbai team that won two Ranji Trophies in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons. Thereafter, Jaffer turned up for Vidarbha and played a leading role in their back-to-back Ranji wins over the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.
Jaffer is the newest addition to the ever-growing list of coaches.
The appointment of Jaffer as the head coach of Punjab is part of the growing trend of former Mumbai cricketers appointed to key coaching roles within state teams for the upcoming 2024-25 domestic season. Chandrakant Pandit has been appointed head coach of Madhya Pradesh, while Sulakshan Kulkarni looks after Maharashtra. Notably, Kulkarni used to be the head coach of Punjab Under-19, and there is a constant pathway for former players to contribute toward the development of cricket in the state.
Overview: Expectations and Goals
Much will be expected from him by the players and the association as the head coach of Punjab. Coupled with the invaluable experience and feel for the game, the expertise on how to best groom young talent is going to be quite crucial while charting out the future for Punjab cricket. PCA look to build on their impressive performance last season and aim even higher with Jaffer at the helm of things.
Punjab cricket this coming season will be all exciting with fans looking up to a team that has shown slow evolution and growth. Evolution has been slow, the awaited chapter in history much exciting, and that thing seems all in place with Jaffer helming things up there.
Read more about related article, just click here
