Wasim Jaffer set to return as Punjab Kings' new head coach succeeding Trevor Bayliss

India's former batter, Wasim Jaffer, is set to take on the Punjab Kings (PBKS) responsibilities as their head coach in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. He will be succeeding Trevor Bayliss, whose two-year contract with the team has ended. While an official confirmation awaits, reports suggest that Jaffer will return to the Punjab Kings for his third stint. 

When the tournament started in 2008, Jaffer was a part of the then Kings XI Punjab's playing 11, and later on, in 2019, he became their batting coach. He stepped down from his position in 2022 before the auction and is now set to return to the franchise. His responsibilities in the team will increase drastically since PBKS haven't won a single IPL season. Moreover, they have only appeared in the finals once in 2014. 

Jaffer was a classic batter of his time and has played 51 Test matches for India. Punjab Kings is one of those teams that haven't won a trophy yet. The team's performance has kept declining from time to time, and hence, even after having some good players, they are failing to clinch the trophy. Now that Jaffer has returned, he will look to revive the PBKS team and help them to lift their first IPL title

Also Read: Punjab Kings welcome back T20 World Cup star Arshdeep Singh with grand celebrations at Chandigarh Airport 

IPL owners and BCCI to meet on July 31st

The Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise owners and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have decided to meet on July 31st to discuss the upcoming future of a few things. The start will be by discussing the Impact Sub-rule policy that the players and captains in the previous season of the IPL opposed. However, this time after having a conversation with the owners, BCCI will take a call on the policy. 

Apart from this, the retention policy will also be reviewed. As per reports, the retention number will increase from 3 to 4-5 players per team. If the owners agree to this, they can retain 5 players ahead of the mega auction in 2024. Another big news will be removing the RTM card, which gave the owners leverage to pick their own players in the auction. All the information regarding the meeting will be given to the people once BCCI confirms their meeting with the franchise owners.