Trevor Bayliss becomes new Punjab Kings head coach

Punjab Kings have appointed Trevor Bayliss as head coach ahead of IPL 2023, after Anil Kumble's contract was not renewed. Kings had failed to make the playoffs for three consecutive seasons under Kumble.

Bayliss comes with a lot of pedigree, not just internationally but also in the IPL. He was the head coach of England when they won the 2019 ODI World Cup and was also the chief coach at Kolkata Knight Riders when they won the IPL in 2012 and 2014. More recently, Bayliss was the head coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Bayliss recently coached London Spirit at the men's Hundred event in England.

Kings have qualified for the playoffs only twice despite being a part of the IPL from the very beginning (as Kings XI Punjab). The first time was in the inaugural season, 2008, when they made the semi-finals, and then in 2014, when they finished runners-up to Knight Riders. They have finished sixth in each of the last four seasons.

The decision to let Kumble go was taken by a board comprising co-owners Preity Zinta, Mohit Burman, Ness Wadia and Karan Paul, as well as Kings' chief executive officer Satish Menon.

Kumble joined Kings in 2020. At the time, he became the fifth coach Kings had appointed in five seasons after Sanjay Bangar (2014-16), Virender Sehwag (2017), Brad Hodge (2018) and Mike Hesson (2019).

In 2020, Kumble was the only Indian head coach in IPL. Kings were the third IPL team he had worked with after his playing days, having earlier served as mentor for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians. This was before he took the job of India head coach for a year in 2016.

Under Kumble, Kings won 19 and lost 23 matches over three seasons. That is the second worst win-loss ratio for any team in IPL since 2020, only behind Sunrisers Hyderabad.