Punjab Kings (PBKS) have signed former England first-class cricketer Julian Ross Wood as their batting consultant ahead of the IPL 2022 season, due to get underway on March 26.

Wood is regarded as a specialist in power-hitting coaching, having worked with some of the leading players in the world.

He has trained the likes of Ben Stokes, Prithvi Shaw, Sam Billings and Carlos Brathwaite, highlighting the importance of staying still and smashing the ball out of the park.

Julian Ross Wood will now work on the Punjab batters alongside assistant coach Jonty Rhodes and head coach Anil Kumble.

"We are jubilant to announce Julian Ross Wood as our new batting consultant for #TATAIPL2022," PBKS tweeted.

Julian Ross Wood was on Punjab Kings’ wishlist for the last couple of seasons but the franchise managed to secure his services last week.

"We wanted him earlier as well but it did not materialise. We were tracking his work for the past two years and he teaches a must have skill to the batters," a Punjab Kings team source told PTI. "We too have a bunch of power-hitters in the squad and they can also pick the brain of someone like Wood. It was Jonty who first spotted him and we are happy to have him on board."

Mayank Agarwal will lead Punjab in the upcoming IPL season. He was one of the two players retained by the franchise alongside Arshdeep Singh ahead of the IPL 2022 mega-auction.

During the mega-auction last month, PBKS had roped in leading names such as Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Kagiso Rabada and bought back left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar and swashbuckling Tamil Nadu batter Shahrukh Khan.

Punjab Kings will open their IPL 2022 campaign against Royal Challengers Bangalore on March 27.

(With PTI inputs)