Jonty Rhodes will be the Punjab Kings batting and fielding coach.

Following the departure of Wasim Jaffer, Punjab Kings fielding coach Jonty Rhodes has taken on the additional responsibility of batting coach. Rhodes is regarded as one of the finest fielders of all time, but he also scored over 8000 runs for South Africa. Last week, the 52-year-old was present at the IPL auction table with head coach Anil Kumble and co-owners. Rhodes scored 5935 runs in 245 One-Day Internationals and 2532 runs in 52 Tests.

While Kumble will concentrate with the spinners, Damien Wright will continue to train the fast bowlers. Andy Flower, who was an assistant coach last season, has been named head coach of the new Lucknow Super Giants.

Punjab Kings are hopeful of going all the way after a “successful” auction in which they acquired Shikhar Dhawan, Shahrukh, Liam Livingstone, Jonny Bairstow, Odean Smith, Kagiso Rabada, and India U-19 standout Raj Bawa.

Punjab entered the auction with the largest sum, retaining only Mayank Agarwal and Arshdeep Singh. The skipper of the team will also be decided soon. “The squad is eager to have an Indian captain, and its selection will be made soon,” a BCCI official said