IPL 2020 News: Wasim Jaffer Appointed as new Batting Coach for Kings XI Punjab

Former Indian Test Opener Wasim Jaffer recently achieved the milestone of playing 150 matches in the Ranji Trophy and is nearing another landmark of becoming the first player to score a whopping 20,000 runs in the tournament. Wasim Jaffer has now been named as the new batting coach of IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab. He has played two ODI matches and 31 Test matches for India and his new position has been officially released on the website of the IPL franchise already.

Jaffer is still turning out for Vidarbha in the Ranji Trophy and he inked the deal with Kings XI Punjab after he was persuaded by the team’s new coach and his ex-Indian captain Anil Kumble. He has already stated that he remains grateful to Kumble for having approached him and how it was a sheer honour to play under his captaincy for the Indian team. Jaffer has also stated that there is a lot to learn from working with Kumble and it will be a great experience ahead. Jaffer is presently in Bangladesh where he is the batting coach for the BCB (Bangladesh Cricket Board) academy.

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He also scored 60 runs in the second-round Ranji Trophy match against Rajasthan for Vidarbha. The 41-year old batsman did not have a great IPL, turning out for RCB (Royal Challengers Bangalore) in the first season in 2008. He played only 6 matches, putting up 115 runs with a 110.57 strike rate. Jaffer has opined that the art and nuances of batting remain the same even though the matches have become faster now. He added that the was open to learning from all the fantastic players around him in the Indian Premier League (IPL), stating that he would be happy to transfer whatever little knowledge he had, to the youngsters in the team.

Kings XI Punjab has also appointed Sunil Joshi as their new bowling coach while South African legend Jonty Rhodes is the fielding coach. The team has traded ex-captain Ravichandran Ashwin to Delhi Capitals and may look to snap up Eoin Morgan as their new captain at the auction for IPL 2020 slated for 19^th December in Kolkata.