Former Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Tom Moody reckons Punjab Kings should put Shahrukh Khan back into the upcoming IPL 2023 auction. The explosive batter was bought for a whopping amount of INR nine crores by Punjab Kings in IPL 2022 mega auction but he could not live up to the expectations.
Khan could only manage 117 runs at an average of 16.71 and a strike rate of 108.33 in the eight games he played. The Tamil Nadu batter was given the job of finishing the innings by the Mohali-based franchise but he could not grab his chances.
Tom Moody said on Star Sports Game Plan, “When it comes to Shahrukh, personally, nine crores, far too many crores. If you are not going to use someone at nine crores and he is sitting on the bench, he is in and out of your side, you don’t back him, you put him back into the auction.”
Moody feels PBKS should target to get back Shahrukh Khan in between five to six crores in the upcoming auction after releasing him.
“I will be putting him back. If I can bring him back into the squad between five and six crores, that range, definitely bring him back. It’s a very fine balance. It’s really down to supply and demand the way I see it.”
On the other hand, Moody feels PBKS should retain their former skipper Mayank Aggarwal. The Karnataka batter could only score 196 runs in 12 innings at an average of 16.33 and a strike rate of 122.50 in the previous edition. Shikhar Dhawan has been appointed as the new captain by the Punjab franchise.
“When you talk about Mayank, it’s a no-brainer. You have to retain him. The challenge for Punjab is how they fit him in their batting order because of how they stack up with Shikhar Dhawan there at the top, you have got Bairstow at the top.”
“Mayank was selfless with his captaincy. He moved down the order which is not his position. So their strategy is how we are going to remix our top order, how does that look with Mayank as part of our playing XI.”
IPL 2023 auction will take place in Bengaluru on 16th December.
