Punjab Kings (PBKS) decided not to renew the spin great Anil Kumble’s contract, marking the end of his tenure as head coach of the team.
The team finished in the bottom half of the Indian Premier League (IPL) points table since Kumble joined the franchise in 2020, finishing fifth in 2020 and 2021 and sixth in the 2022 season.
ESPNCricinfo reports that the decision was made by a board made up of several owners, including the Bollywood actor Preity Zinta, industrialists Mohit Burman, Ness Wadia, and Karan Paul, as well as King's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Satish Menon.
Kumble followed Mike Hesson (2019), Brad Hodge (2018), Virender Sehwag (2017), and Sanjay Bangar as the Kings' fifth head coach in consecutive years.
The legendary spinner was the only Indian head coach in the IPL 2020. He worked with three IPL clubs after his playing career, first as the mentor of Royal Challengers Bangalore and subsequently of Mumbai Indians. His third team was the Kings.
For the 42 games he coached the team, the team could only win 18 while losing 22 and tying 2 games. Since 2020, this is the second-worst win-loss ratio for any IPL franchise.
SEE ALSO: WATCH - Pakistan's Shaheen Afridi catches up with India's Chahal, Kohli, Pant and KL Rahul
The Kings have also denied media stories that cited unnamed franchise insiders as making predictions about Mayank Agarwal's future as the team's captain. The next head coach, who will be revealed soon, will make the ultimate decision.
(ESPNcricinfo inputs)
