Since the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) lost one of their biggest weapons, Gautam Gambhir, who was the mentor of the franchise, from last season’s successful campaign of winning their third title in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2024, they have been in talks with a few former players to get their services.
KKR won their first trophy of the league in 2012 and then repeated the same in 2014, both under the captaincy of their former opening batter, Gautam Gambhir, who in the role of a mentor of the side, changed the dynamics of the group after their decade-long dried time in the history of IPL, where they could only become the runners-up of the league in 2021.
But in the partnership of Gambhir, with the contribution of head coach Chandrakant Pandit and captain Shreyas Iyer, they became successful in winning their third title in the league.
Jacques Kallis or Ricky Ponting? KKR targets new mentor for IPL 2025
Since Gautam Gambhir has joined the Indian team, becoming their new head coach of the side till the 2027 ODI World Cup, he won’t be available for the role, and the Knight Riders are in search of someone who has a fair bit of experience of the shortest format of the game with past coaching experiences.
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The local newspaper, Sangbad Protidin, has reported that the management has been in talks consistently with the former South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis, who in the past was also part of the KKR set-up under the captaincy of Gambhir.
The veteran was also part of the coaching department of the Knight Riders, along with sharing his view with some of the other franchises around the globe.
Along with him, the reports have also suggested not to overlook the former Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting, who once was a member of the KKR team. The former Australian captain didn’t have a smooth start to his coaching career with the Capitals in 2018, when they finished with the wooden spoon, before developing their position to the next three seasons in 2019, 2020, and 2021.
A few weeks ago, before the announcement of the head coach of the England white-ball side, the Tasmania-born was asked whether he would love to take the role, to which Ponting remarked that his concentration had been on some of the roles in the Indian Premier League.
Shreyas Iyer, the captain of the KKR side, has a really good relationship in the field with Ricky, as both of them had worked together for the Delhi side in the league, and this could be another moment when both of them can again look to earn more success for the purple franchise.
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Kolkata had an excellent season in 2025, where they ended the league stage at the top position with nine victories in 14 games at a net run rate of +1.428 before they successfully bashed out the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) twice in the qualifier and the final to enjoy the trophy.
Kumar Sangakkara has also been in the probable news of earning the mentor role. With the BCCI set to announce the rules regarding the retentions of the IPL 2025 in the next few weeks, the franchise is also expected to confirm their mentor as they look to defend their title.