George Bailey to lead Kings XI Punjab in IPL 7

ew Delhi: Australia’s T20I skipper George Bailey will lead the Punjab team in the seventh edition of the Indian Premier League. Bailey becomes the second Australian after Adam Gilchrist to captain the Punjab franchise.

Bailey who was brought by the Punjab franchise at a price tag of Rs 3.25 crore was chosen ahead of Team India’s discard Virender Sehwag. Bailey will be taking over the captaincy from another Aussie Adam Gilchrist who had announced his retirement after the last season.

According to a statement issued by the team management of Kings XI Punjab the choice of giving the charge of the team to Bailey was a ‘unanimous’ one.
Incidentally, in 2011 when the Australian selectors appointed him as the T20 captain, Bailey became only the second man since Dave Gregory in 1877, to lead the team in his first match for the country in any format.

Bailey was earlier associated with team Chennai Super Kings but was bought by team Punjab in this year’s player auction. Bailey has captained Australia in 24 T20 internationals and helped the team to 13 victories with good scores.

“We required a player with past leadership experience. The second and crucial aspect was to have a player who was guaranteed a place in the team for all matches,” Bangar said, adding the other elements that were taken into account before picking Bailey as the captain.