KKR begin search for Gautam Gambhir’s successor, 2 legendary batters under consideration

One out of two legendary cricketers of all time Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting are in line to join the Kolkata Knight Riders as the team's new mentor. KKR are in search of a mentor ever since Gautam Gambhir left the franchise.

Gambhir was KKR's mentor for the IPL 2024 season. The former India opener played a key role with his clarity of plans and helped Knight Riders win the IPL 2024 season. However, Gambhir was offered the role of Team India's head coach and he took it without any hesitation.

This leaves KKR without any mentor for the upcoming IPL season. Not only Gambhir, but KKR's assistant coaches Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate have also left the franchise to serve as India's assistant coach. Both of them will work in India's coaching staff under Gautam Gambhir.

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Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis are on the radar to succeed Gautam Gambhir at KKR

According to a report in Sangbad Pratidin, a Bengali newspaper, the search for the replacement of Gautam Gambhir has already begun. The report says that KKR are in talks with Jacques Kallis for the role of mentor to assist the head coach Chandrakant Pandit.

Kallis has previous experience of working in the KKR dressing room. The South African allrounder was a part of KKR's 2012 and 2014 IPL-winning teams. In the IPL 2012 final, he even played a match-winning knock of 69 off 49 balls against Chennai Super Kings to help KKR lift their first-ever IPL trophy.

Apart from being a player, Kallis has also worked in KKR's coaching staff. He was appointed the team's batting consultant in 2015. Just a year later, he was promoted to the role of head coach after the exit of Trevor Bayliss.

It is also believed that Ricky Ponting and Kumar Sangakkara were also approached for the role. Ponting was recently removed as the head coach of Delhi Capitals. He has a great record as captain of Australia.

Rajasthan Royals appoint Rahul Dravid as head coach

On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals recently appointed Rahul Dravid as their head coach. Earlier, Kumar Sangakkara used to serve as the team's head coach as well as the franchise's Director of cricket.

While Dravid will take upon the role of the head coach, Sangakkara is expected to stay in the role of the franchise's Director of Operations. It means that Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting are the two possible options for the role of KKR's head coach.

Most of the Kolkata Knight Riders' coaching staff is likely to be changed for the upcoming IPL season. It won't be easy to fill the big shoes of Gautam Gambhir and Abhishek Nayar but they will draw confidence from the fact that the team is in a good state.

When will BCCI announce its player retention policy?

Meanwhile, the BCCI is likely to announce the players' retention policy soon. The franchises are likely to keep a watch on the developments before they plan for the IPL 2025 mega auction.

KKR will also hope to fix their coaching staff before the mega-auction. The BCCI and the team owners had a meeting in BCCI's headquarters in Mumbai last month regarding various issues which included the no. of retentions and the RTM card.

The franchise representatives transferred their opinions to the board officials which have been forwarded to the IPL governing council, who will take a final decision on it.