Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are seeking a new team mentor ahead of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season.
Gautam Gambhir, who was associated with KKR as a team mentor in the triumphant T20 World Cup 2024 campaign, had to part ways with the franchise after he got a dream job offer for the India head coach role.
Along with Gambhir, fielding coach Ryan ten Doeschate and assistant coach Abhishek Nayar have left the franchise to join the Indian team as assistant coaches.
According to a report published in Sangbad Pratidin, former South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis is one of the front-runners to get the KKR team mentor job.
Kallis was an integral member of the Knight Riders squad that won the IPL titles in 2012 and 2014. He was also part of KKR's coaching staff in the past.
In 2015, Kallis was appointed their batting consultant and, a year later, named their head coach after Trevor Baylis' exit. The Kolkata based-franchise is reportedly looking to rope in the Proteas legend in the coaching staff to assist head coach Chandrakant Pandit.
The other two contenders for the big position at KKR are Australian great Ricky Ponting and former Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara.
Notably, Ponting parted ways with Delhi Capitals a couple of months ago, while Rahul Dravid replaced Sangakkara as Rajasthan Royals' new head coach.
The report also suggested that Sangakkara is likely to retain his Director of Operations at the Royals, which leaves KKR with two options - Ponting and Kallis. The three-time IPL champions will look to finalise their coaching staff before the IPL 2025 mega-auction.
All teams are set to undergo a major overhaul as mega-auction will take place later this year. However, the BCCI is yet to announce the number of retentions each franchise will be allowed.
The BCCI held a meeting with the IPL team owners last month, where the franchise's opinions were divided on issues ranging from the grand auction to the Impact Player rule.
According to reports, teams are not likely to be allowed to retain more than five players with one Right to Match (RTM) card. The RTM card enables teams to match the highest bid for the player that played for them in the previous season and secure his services again.
