Andy Flower, former Zimbabwe captain and a well-known cricket coach, has reportedly emerged as the frontrunner to become head coach of the new Lucknow-based Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise for the upcoming IPL 2022 edition.

Flower has already stepped down as assistant coach of the Punjab Kings (PBKS), whose former captain KL Rahul is also expected to move to the Sanjiv Goenka-owned Lucknow franchise in the IPL in 2022.

Notably, the Sanjiv Goenka-led RP-SG Group owned the Lucknow franchise for Rs 7090 crore.

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Also in the fray are India's 2011 World Cup-winning coach Gary Kirsten, former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori, and former Indian pacer Ashish Nehra to become the head coach of the Lucknow franchise for the upcoming IPL 15.

On speculation over the head coach appointment, a team official told PTI: “We have been hearing a lot of names. Only today someone wrote that Gary Kirsten is also becoming the coach. We are in talks with a few, but unless someone signs for us, we cannot confirm.”

Notably, Flower coached England to the T20 World Cup title in 2010. He is currently the head coach of the Multan Sultans and St Lucia Zouks in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and Caribbean Premier League (CPL) respectively.

He also worked with Afghanistan as a consultant for the T20 World Cup 2021.