Kolkata Knight Riders To Rope In Gautam Gambhir As Coach Ahead Of IPL 2024: Report
Gautam Gambhir is reportedly set to be roped in by Kolkata Knight Riders as a part of their backroom staff ahead of the forthcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The report has started doing the rounds after various media sources stated that Lucknow Super Giants are likely to rope in former Australia head coach Justin Langer as their coach.
According to Cricbuzz, Langer and LSG are involved in discussions as of now. If the negotiations go well, Langer is likely to be named as the new head coach of the franchise. In such a scenario, Gautam Gambhir is likely to part ways with LSG. The former India opener was serving as the mentor of the team from the last two seasons. In both the seasons, LSG made it to the playoffs but failed to win the title.
And reports have emerged stating that Kolkata Knight Riders are likely to rope in their former captain ahead of IPL 2023. It will be interesting to see whether Gambhir joins the franchise as a mentor or the head coach in case he decides to part ways with LSG and join his former IPL team. At present, Chandrakant Pandit is serving as the head coach of the franchise.
Kolkata Knight Riders to rope in Gautam Gambhir:
In August last year, the Kolkata-based franchise appointed Pandit as their head coach after Brendon McCullum parted ways with them to become England's Test coach. The Knight Riders appointed Pandit after he led Madhya Pradesh to a historic Ranji Trophy title. Pandit, however, failed to impress as a coach in his maiden IPL season as the Knight Riders finished at the seventh spot in the points table.
The Knight Riders have struggled to do well in the IPL in recent years and have not won the title since 2014. Incidentally, they won both of their IPL titles under Gambhir's captaincy. The franchise would be tempted to bring in Gambhir and end their long wait for an IPL title. Gambhir played for the Knight Riders from 2011 and 2017 and completely changed the fortunes of the team. According to reports, the franchise has already started the talk with their former captain and a final call on the matter would be taken soon.