Former New Zealand great Brendon McCullum has been appointed as new head coach of Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders replacing Jack Kallis who stepped down from the post last month.
The former New Zealand captain recently announced retirement from all forms of cricket and has immediately stepped into a new role with the franchise he made his IPL bow with. He announced himself in the IPL with a blistering knock of 158 on the opening day that is still fondly remembered till date.
McCullum expressed delight at taking up the role and vowed to work towards continuing the success achieved by the franchise. The former wicket-keeper batsman will also take charge of Caribbean Premier League outfit Trinbago Knight Riders, a sister concern of KKR.
“It’s a great honor to take on this responsibility,” he is quoted as saying. “The Knight Rider franchises in IPL and CPL have become iconic and have set the standard in franchise cricket. We have fantastic squads in both KKR and TKR and I along with the support staff will be looking to build on the successes both franchises have enjoyed.”
Making the announcement, Venky Mysore CEO of KKR 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 a head coach.”
McCullum played 109 matches in the IPL scoring 2880 runs at a strike rate of 131.74.
He has been very closely associated with the KKR as a player first from 2008 to 2010 and again from 2012-2013 and was part of the IPL winning squad in 2012. He was also part of the TKR squad in the CPL, from 2016-2018, during which TKR won back-to-back championships in 2017 and 2018.
Earlier, Trevor Bayliss was rumoured to be the next head coach for KKR but the World Cup-winning England gaffer was unveiled as Sunrisers Hyderabad’s replacement for Tom Moody.
(With PTI inputs)
