IPL 2023: Chris Gayle says PBKS' treatment of Mayank Agarwal disappointing; calls their tendency to chop and change ridiculous

Chris Gayle played for Punjab Kings from 2018-2021.

Probably the greatest T20 batter of all time Chris Gayle who spent his last couple of years in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with Punjab Kings (PBKS), said that he was disappointed in the way the franchise treated Mayank Agarwal in IPL 2022 despite his sacrifices as their captain.

Mayank led PBKS in IPL 2022 after KL Rahul parted ways with them ahead of the mega auction last year. However, he struggled with the bat and managed only 196 runs in 13 matches overall.

He had also sacrificed his opening slot for Jonny Bairstow and despite everything, PBKS finished 6^th on the points table for the fourth consecutive season. This led to PBKS first replacing Mayank with Shikhar Dhawan as their captain and then releasing Agarwal ahead of IPL 2023 auction. 

Chris Gayle said Agarwal was not treated properly by the franchise and expects a big payday for him at the auction on Friday.

"Mayank will definitely get picked. I would be very disappointed if he doesn't. Because he is such an explosive player. He has probably hurt himself at not being retained by Punjab after what he sacrificed for the franchise and to be treated like that is disappointing but I hope teams still believe in him and give him good money. He is a fantastic team man as well,” Gayle said in an interaction arranged by Jio Cinema ahead of the IPL 2023 auction.

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Gayle appeared in 142 IPL matches for Kolkata Knight Riders, with his best years coming for Royal Challengers Bangalore and he played his last few matches with Punjab Kings. Overall, he made 4965 runs at an average of 39.72 and a strike rate of 148.96.

He holds the record for the highest score in IPL- 175* which came in IPL 2013 and has hit the most sixes in the tournament as well- 357. He has the most hundreds-6 along with 31 fifties to his name.

The Jamaican then pinpointed the issue with Punjab Kings and said that their tendency to change the playing XI almost every match has caused them to struggle in the tournament.

He said: “They chop and change man, it is ridiculous. You keep chopping and changing, they never have a set eleven whether you win a match. Sometimes they would go with the same team but so often players don't feel comfortable (with too many changes). When they do get a chance and IPL is already pressure, so (with that sort of approach) you end putting more excessive pressure and with that, you won't see them flourishing within the game."

(PTI inputs)