Veteran domestic cricket coach Chandrakant Pandit has finally entered the Indian Premier League and has replaced Brendon McCullum as the head coach of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Despite being a veteran coach, Chandrakant has never worked with an IPL franchise before.
As per the former India stumper, he did have talks with Shah Rukh Khan in 2012 but he wasn’t ready to work under a foreign coach. Chandrakant has a marvellous track record in domestic cricket and he is a six-time Ranji Trophy-winning coach.
“It’s a great honour and privilege to be given this responsibility. I have heard from players and others who have been associated with the Knight Riders, about the family culture, as well as the tradition of success that has been created. I am excited about the quality of the support staff and the players who are part of the set up and I am looking forward to this opportunity with all humility and positive expectations,” the veteran coach said in a statement released by KKR.
“We are very excited that Chandu is joining the Knight Riders family to lead us through the next phase of our journey. His deep commitment to what he does and his track record of success in domestic cricket, is there for everyone to see. We are looking forward to his partnership with our skipper Shreyas Iyer, which promises to be an exciting one,” Venky Mysore, the CEO of KKR, said in a statement.
Chandrakant has propelled Mumbai (thrice), Vidarbha (twice in back-to-back seasons) and Madhya Pradesh (once) to Ranji Trophy title wins. With KKR yet to win an IPL trophy since 2014, they have their hopes pinned on the domestic stalwart.
Shreyas Iyer is the captain of KKR. They failed to qualify for the 2nd round of IPL 2022.
