Zaheer Khan to take a dual role at LSG: Ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction, several changes are taking place in the coaching staff of multiple franchises. Gautam Gambhir has left the Kolkata Knight Riders’ mentor role to join the Indian team, and he brought in Morne Morkel from the Lucknow Super Giants.
There are reports that Kumar Sangakkara and Ashish Nehra are potentially set to leave the Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Titans, respectively. The Sri Lankan is in contention to take up the England white-ball coach’s role, while Nehra is facing the sack.
Another huge change on the cards is Zaheer Khan leaving the Mumbai Indians!
Zaheer Khan has been part of the MI setup for a long time. After retiring from the game, he joined the franchise as Director of Cricket Operations in 2018. In 2022, he was promoted as the Global Head of Cricket Development at the Mumbai Indians to oversee MI’s teams in other franchise leagues as well.
Zaheer Khan to take a dual role at LSG
According to a report in Cricbuzz recently, Zaheer is in talks with the Lucknow Super Giants franchise to take up the dual role of mentor and bowling coach, positions vacated by the departure of Gambhir and Morkel.
Gambhir left LSG ahead of the IPL 2024 season to return to KKR, and Morkel recently joined Gambhir at the Indian national team.
Having held management positions at the Mumbai Indians, there’s more to Zaheer’s potential role at LSG. The report said, “He will also be a key interlocutor, rather a go-between, for players and the management of the franchise, the owner of which is known to be very passionate about the game.”
The former India left-arm pacer was also one of the contenders to take up the bowling coach’s role with the Indian team in the new setup under Gambhir. But the new head coach advocated for Morkel’s inclusion over the former India pacer.
LSG have a heavily stacked coaching staff with prominent names: head coach Justin Langer, along with Adam Voges, Lance Klusener, and Jonty Rhodes.
The report further added, “There is also talk of another prominent coach joining the Sanjiv Goenka-owned franchise, the details of which are still not fully clear.”
LSG made their IPL debut in 2022. Under coach Andy Flower, mentor Gambhir, and captain KL Rahul, they reached the playoffs in their first two seasons. But under Langer, they failed to reach the playoffs this year, missing out due to an inferior net run rate.
Meanwhile, it is believed that the BCCI will finalize their retention rules for the IPL 2025 mega auction by the end of August. It is reported that the board would allow six retentions, including the right-to-match option.
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