New Delhi, August 9: The Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) has made significant administrative changes ahead of the 2026/27 domestic season, appointing Amit Uniyal as the new head coach of the senior men’s team. Uniyal, a former left-arm fast bowler, takes over from Sandeep Sharma. Alongside him, TP Singh has been appointed as the batting coach, Harmit Singh as the bowling coach, and Manish Sharma as the fielding coach, replacing Uday Kaul, Gagandeep Singh, and Sandeep Sanwal, respectively.
Uniyal has played 29 first-class and 46 List A matches for Punjab and was part of the Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2009. Following brief tenures by Aavishkar Salvi, Wasim Jaffer, and Sandeep Sharma, Uniyal becomes the fourth head coach for Punjab in four seasons.
This change comes in response to Punjab’s continued poor performance in red-ball cricket. Although the team won the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy in 2023/24, their record in the Ranji Trophy has been dismal, suffering 10 losses and securing only three wins over the past three seasons.
In a statement to Cricinfo, Uniyal emphasized the need for a cohesive unit, stating, “Everyone wants to play in the IPL these days, so they focus more on T20 cricket. However, we have the potential and talent; we just need to play as a unit. This time, we want to perform better in red-ball cricket, which requires bowlers capable of taking 20 wickets. We will work in that direction.”
Uniyal has been part of various coaching setups and selection committees for Chandigarh. He served as the assistant coach in the 2020/21 season and was the chairman of selectors last season.
Last season saw instability in selection, with Punjab fielding 27 players and using three different captains. Uniyal stressed the importance of giving players a fair chance to play. The PCA has also formed a new selection committee for the senior men’s team, headed by Gaurav Gupta.
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