It has been heard that Kumar Sangakkara, a former captain of Sri Lanka who is associated with Rajasthan Royals in IPL, might become a mentor for Kolkata Knight Riders instead of Gautam Gambhir. A report was published about this on Thursday September 5 in the Telegraph stating that discussions are ongoing between KKR and Sangakkara to fill this vacant position after Gambhir left it when he joined the Indian cricket team as a head coach in July 2024.
Telegraph sources say Sangakkara who has been director of cricket in the Rajasthan Royals since 2021 has decided to quit. He may also receive offers from other franchises and any decision regarding his move to KKR will likely be taken within a few days.
Reports suggest that former Indian coach Rahul Dravid will become the new head coach for the Rajasthan Royals while Vikram Rathour, who was earlier part of Indian batting department might also join him at Royals.
The IPL franchise KKR is now coached by a former Indian cricketer Chandrakant Pandit while the bowling coach for the franchise owned by Shah Rukh Khan is Bharat Arun who used to be the Indian team’s bowling coach. However, the fielding coach Ryan ten Doeschate and assistant coach Abhishek Nayar have left this franchise to join the Indian team as assistant coaches.
Just days ago, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed Brendon McCullum’s appointment for the white-ball side besides his existing role as England Test head coach. Sangakkara had been in a race to become new white-ball head coach of England men’s cricket team since he is second leading run scorer in international cricket.
In the last three editions of IPL Sangakkara has produced good results for Rajasthan Royals. Under Sanju Samson’s leadership, Royals managed to qualify for the IPL final in 2022, while in 2024 edition the Jaipur-based franchise finisher at No. 3 place in points table and qualified for eliminator match where it defeated Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
