Chris Gayle bashes Punjab team over Mayank Agarwal ahead of Indian T20 League player auction

Last month, all 10 teams of the Indian T20 League revealed the list of the players they retained and released. Talking about Punjab, they released their former skipper Mayank Agarwal. The right-hander was part of the team since the 2018 season. In the 15th season of the league, Agarwal led the 2014 finalists but didn’t have a great time with the bat. He could only manage 198 runs in the season.

A while back, the team decided to replace him as captain and appointed Shikhar Dhawan as the skipper of the ship. Last month, they also went on to release the former. Meanwhile, Chris Gayle, who played for the team from 2018 to 2021 has lashed out at his former team. The left-hander said that Mayank would probably be hurt after getting released by the Mohali-based team.

“He has probably hurt within himself at not being retained by Punjab after what he sacrificed for the franchise and to be treated like that is disappointing but I hope teams still believe in him and give him good money. He is a fantastic team man as well,” said Gayle in an interaction arranged by Jio Cinema ahead of Indian T20 League auctions.

They chop and change man, it is ridiculous: Chris Gayle

The two-time 20-20 World Cup didn’t just support Agarwal. The former went on to bash the Red Brigade over their policy of chopping and changing the playing XI during every season of the cash-rich league. He insisted that players get extra pressure because off too many changes.

“They chop and change man, it is ridiculous. You keep chopping and changing, they never have a set eleven whether you win a match. Sometimes they would go with the same team but so often players don’t feel comfortable (with too much changes),” said Gayle.

“When they do get a chance and ITL is already pressure, so (with that sort of approach) you end putting more excessive pressure and with that you won’t see them flourishing within the game.”