Gary Kirsten, Team India’s only 50-over World Cup-winning coach, is likely to make his comeback to the Indian Premier League (IPL) as the head of an IPL franchise. The veteran coach has had two unsuccessful IPL coaching stints so far and is likely to return to IPL after 2 seasons.
As per Cricbuzz, the Lucknow-based IPL franchise has approached Kirsten and former India pacer Ashish Nehra to be its head coach and consultant, respectively. Though a final decision has not been taken yet. The RPSG-owned Lucknow-based franchise will be making its debut in IPL 2022.
Kirsten’s first IPL coaching stint came with Delhi Capitals (DC) in IPL 2015 and 2016. He didn’t have a memorable run at DC as the team lost 20 out of 28 matches under him.
After staying away from the league for 1 year, Kirsten returned to IPL with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and had a two-year stint with them. The Virat Kohli-led side failed to clear the league in both seasons.
Nehra also joined RCB following his retirement and worked with Kirsten for two years. Should they join Lucknow’s coaching staff, it will be a reunion for them. Nehra was also part of the squad which won the 2011 World Cup.
Meanwhile, Ravi Shastri, another former India head coach, is likely to make his debut as a coach in IPL. Recently, another report in Cricbuzz had suggested that the Ahmedabad-based IPL franchise is eyeing Shastri for the top job. He will likely be joined by bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar. Both the coaches worked under Shastri at the national team.
The auction for the next season of IPL is likely to take place in the next 2-3 months. And the franchise owners are likely to finalise their respective coaching staff soon.
