Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won their third Indian Premier League (IPL) title earlier this year, beating SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the final. It was only their third IPL success, and the first since 2014. Coincidentally, current India head coach Gautam Gambhir has played his part in all three of KKR’s IPL triumphs. In 2012 and 2014, he was the captain of the franchise when KKR lifted two titles in three seasons. However, this year, Gambhir took up a different role, joining KKR as a mentor. He joined KKR from the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), where he also worked as the mentor of the franchise.
Gambhir had joined LSG’s support staff in December 2021, and worked with the franchise in its first two seasons in the IPL.
Now, LSG owner Sanjeev Goenka has now credited Gambhir for building everything from the scratch. Goenka revealed that due to the shortage of time, LSG did not have an analyst or a scout team before the auction, adding that it was Gambhir who did everything.
“Gautam has played a significant role in building the side’s foundation. If you consider our first auction successful, it is only because of Gautam. We got the franchise barely two weeks before the auctions. We did not have an analyst or a research team. It was all Gautam Gambhir’s team. He did everything and put together a very balanced team. Everyone has specific roles and Gautam played his part exceptionally well,” Goenka said during an interview with Sports Tak.
LSG qualified for the IPL playoffs in its first two seasons in the IPL before finishing seventh in IPL 2024.
Ahead of IPL 2025 mega auctions, LSG appointed former India pacer Zaheer Khan as the mentor of the franchise.
After his appointed, Zaheer said that he will be serving the team in every capacity possible.
“It is a team game, so I will be serving the team in every capacity possible, and yes, it includes bowling. If I am there in the set-up, does the team need another bowling coach? When you see LSG, their journey is only three years but they are as comparable to the teams who have played the IPL for 17-18 years. The building blocks are in place and we need to take them forward. Decision-making will be something we’ll work on, since it is something that can differentiate teams,” Zaheer said at the media interaction at the RPSG Group Headquarters in Kolkata.