For the next year’s edition, two-times Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have named former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum as their head coach, a role that was earlier occupied by legendary South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis.
In the past, McCullum played for the franchise from 2008 to 2010 and re-joined in the 2012-13 season. He was part of the KKR side, which won their first IPL title in 2012.
In the first season of the IPL in 2008, McCullum gave the tournament a perfect start as he smashed an unbeaten 158 for KKR in the inaugural match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
“It’s a great honour to take on this responsibility,” said McCullum, who recently announced his retirement as a player. The Knight Rider franchises in IPL & CPL have become iconic and have set the standard in franchise cricket. We have fantastic squads in both KKR & TKR and I along with the support staff will be looking to build on the successes both franchises have enjoyed,” he added.
https://twitter.com/KKRiders/status/1161941298737111040
KKR’s CEO, Venky Mysore said: “Brendon has been an integral part of the Knight Riders family for a long time. His leadership qualities, honesty, positive and aggressive style, combined with his natural ability to bring the best out of the teams he has been part of, makes him ideally suited to lead KKR and TKR as head coach.”
KKR have also severed ties with Simon Katich who was the assistant coach but a replacement for him is yet to be announced.
