Former India captain and coach Anil Kumble on Friday was appointed as as the head coach of Indian Premier League franchise Kings XI Punjab.
At the board meeting of the franchise and co-owner Ness Wadia made it clear that they wanted Kumble as the director and coach of the team.
“Kumble is our choice to coach Kings XI. The world knows about his cricketing and coaching abilities. He’s very calm, cool and collected person. He comes with a lot of experience in the IPL, having worked with two other franchises in the past, and also with the Indian team. We’re pretty sure that under his leadership, Kings XI will do very well,” Wadia was quoted as saying by The Times of India.
KXIP have also brought West Indies great Courtney Walsh on board as talent scout. Former India spinner Sunil Joshi and Kumble’s longtime national and state teammate will be the assistant coach of the Punjab franchise. South African great Jonty Rhodes is set to be the team’s fielding coach and former Australian captain George Bailey will coach the batsmen.
Spin legend Kumble has been put in charge of “all cricket-related affairs” of the team and will be making a presentation to the team management regarding his plans on October 19.
It has also been learnt that Kumble will also take a call on Ravichandran Ashwin’s future with the team on the same day. Ashwin, who captained the side in the past two seasons, is expected to be traded to Delhi Capitals ahead of the next season.
“Kumble will decide who all players will stay and who all will be released. Walsh will be scouting talent for the team in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 trophy before the IPL and will also work with our pacers,” a KXIP official was quoted as saying by PTI.