In the wake of Gautam Gambhir’s departure following the 2023 Indian Premier League, Zaheer Khan is expected to become the mentor for the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). Gambhir became the India men’s team’s head coach after accepting the mentor position with Kolkata Knight Riders for the 2024 Indian Premier League.
Unknown at this time is if Zaheer will serve as LSG’s bowling coach as well, given that Morne Morkel left the squad to work with Gambhir’s Indian coaching staff.
Zaheer served with the Mumbai Indians (MI) team from 2018 until 2022, initially as director of cricket and subsequently as head of global development. He had previously played for three teams in the Indian Premier League: Delhi Daredevils, MI, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He played in 100 games for the three sides in ten different seasons, taking 102 wickets at an economy rate of 7.58. Before quitting all cricket-related activities, he led the Daredevils for his final game in the competition in 2017.
Along with Zaheer’s mentorship, LSG wants to give him more exposure, which will entail involving him in the scouting and player-development initiatives during the off-season, as previously reported by.
The head coach of LSG is presently Justin Langer, who will stay in that position after taking over for Andy Flower in the lead-up to the 2024 Indian Premier League. His assistants are Lance Klusener and Adam Voges. The KL Rahul-led team missed out on a top four spot in 2024 after making the playoffs in their first two seasons due to a lower net run rate.
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At a time when teams are getting ready for a massive auction, Zaheer may rejoin the IPL. The retention guidelines should be revealed by the IPL by the beginning of September.