Ahead of the next season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) has made changes in its coaching staff. This decision comes after their poor campaign in IPL 2025.
KKR were the defending champions, but had a very poor campaign and failed to qualify for the playoffs. With only 5 wins from 14 matches, the three-time IPL winners finished a disappointing eighth in the league table.
After a disappointing campaign, KKR sacked Chandrakant Pandit as their head coach and replaced him with Abhishek Nair. Apart from appointing Nair as head coach, KKR has also appointed Tim Southee and Shane Watson as bowling coach and assistant coach respectively. Recently, Andre Russell was also confirmed as the ‘power coach’ for the franchise.
Also read: There should have been no retention but..: KKR CEO Venky Mysore makes sensational revelation that IPL had changed the rules to benefit some teams in 2011
KKR CEO on Chandrakant Pandit’s exit:
Although not many eyebrows were raised when KKR decided to sack Pandit from the post of its head coach earlier this year, franchise CEO Venky Mysore has hinted that there is more to it than meets the eye. In a recent interview, Mysore hinted that dressing room unrest was one of the reasons behind the dismissal.
He said that the franchise wanted to bring in contemporary cricketers and indirectly said that the players did not connect much with Pandit.
“Why the reset because we were forced to, no? Last year [after 2024 IPL] Our coaching cabinet was cleaned. [Gautam Gambhir, Abhishek Nayar, Ryan ten Doeschate, the KKR mentor and assistant coaches, took over coaching roles with Indian men’s team]But really the learning point for me is that it’s not a perfect science in terms of players making coaching changes, and whether they can become as good players as they were before,” Mysore told ESPNcricinfo.
“So the thing I’m saying is that his touchy-feely things during the game would be so strong because they were, [and are still] Just playing it. And secondly, what happens is how can they connect with what the players are going through. So when you are in team meetings, strategy planning etc., the players also realize that when it comes from them, these are people who have just been there, who have done this recently.” He added.