KKR’s new coach and batting coach: Kolkata Knight Riders have announced a new Head Coach and Batting Coach for IPL 2020.
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Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders have parted ways with coach Jacques Kallis and batting coach Simon Katich. Kallis, who joined the franchise in 2011 as an all-rounder transformed into mentor and then Head Coach before ending a nine-year association with Knight Riders.
The legendary South African all-rounder was part of the Knight Riders team which won the IPL title in 2012 and 2014 under the captaincy of former India opening batsman Gautam Gambhir.
Under Kallis, Katich and captain Dinesh Karthik, KKR finished at the fifth position in this year’s IPL. A better Net Run Rate would have seen them qualifying for the playoffs.
KKR’s new coach and batting coach
As replacements for Kallis and Katich, Knight Riders have roped in current England Head Coach Trevor Bayliss and former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum as coach and batting coach respectively. It is worth mentioning that both Bayliss and McCullum have been associated with KKR in the past.
While Bayliss was their Head Coach when Kolkata won the IPL in 2012 and 2014, McCullum played for the franchise from 2008-2010 and then for a one-year stint in 2012. McCullum had also led the franchise in 2009.
It is expected that the imminent Ashes series will be Bayliss’ last as England’s Head Coach. Bayliss has recently led England to a title victory in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
McCullum, who has been a cricket expert-cum commentator lately, last played in the IPL in 2018. In his 11-year IPL career, McCullum scored 2,880 runs in 109 matches at an average of 27.69 and a strike rate of 131.74 including two centuries and 13 half-centuries.
