KKR eyes surprise pick to replace Gautam Gambhir as mentor. It's not Rahul Dravid

File photo of Gautam Gambhir (right)© X (formerly Twitter)

Gautam Gambhir has been appointed as the new head coach of the Indian cricket team as Rahul Dravid’s tenure comes to an end after the 2024 T20 World Cup triumph. Gambhir has been the favourite to succeed Dravid for quite some time and his first assignment as head coach will be the upcoming T20I and ODI series against Sri Lanka. However, the appointment means that Kolkata Knight Riders have lost their mentor under whom they won the IPL 2024 title. There have been several reports that assistant coach Abhishek Nayar could join Gambhir in the Indian team coaching staff and hence, KKR is looking to revamp its coaching staff for the 2025 season. While Dravid was rumoured to be one of their choices, a report claims that KKR could be eyeing legendary South African cricketer Jacques Kallis.

Kallis was part of KKR during his playing career and as a player he won the IPL title in 2012 and 2014 under Gambhir. Kallis was also the batting consultant for KKR in the 2015 season and he was appointed as the head coach after Trevor Bayliss resigned to take over as England head coach.

Kallis was the head coach of KKR for four seasons of the Indian Premier League (IPL) until 2019, when he resigned from the post and joined the South Africa cricket team as a batting consultant.

With Gambhir joining the Indian cricket team as head coach, Kallis can make a comeback in the KKR coaching setup and a report in The Telegraph stated that his name is doing the rounds at the moment.

“The franchise is also looking for a replacement for Gambhir, who was key to their third IPL crown this year. The name of legendary South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis, who had coached KKR in 2019, is also doing the rounds,” the report said.

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