KOLKATA: The Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday roped in experienced Chandrakant Pandit as their new head coach. Pandit, who turns 61 next month, replaces New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum, who stepped down from the same position after taking over as the coach of the England Test side in May this year. Interestingly, Pandit will be KKR’s first Indian head coach after the spell of five foreign coaches at the helm of the team’s affairs. Pandit, who will be stepping into the IPL platform for the first time, is only the third Indian after ex-left arm pacer Ashish Nehra and former all-rounder Sanjay Bangar to become the head coach of an IPL franchise.
Pandit has been one of the most sought-after coaches in the domestic circuit over the years for his ability to bring success with relatively unknown faces. He has been the head coach of six Ranji-winning teams with three different state units. The former India keeper-batter guided Madhya Pradesh to their maiden Ranji Trophy title last season before leading Mumbai to Ranji Trophy titles in 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2015-16 seasons. Vidarbha too went on to win the Ranji Trophy and Irani Cup titles in 2017-2018 and 2018-19 under him.

However, it will be interesting to see how Pandit, who played five Tests and 36 ODIs for India in his six-year international career spanning from 1986 to 1992, works with some of the so-called stars of Indian cricket. A strict disciplinarian like Pandit might also face challenges in handling some big international players like Andrew Russell, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins and Aaron Finch. However, he will be reunited with his old pupil Mumbai star Shreyas Iyer, who was named KKR captain after last year’s mega auction.
Accepting the new challenge, Pandit said, “It’s a great honour and privilege to be given this responsibility. I have heard from players and others who have been associated with Knight Riders, about the family culture, as well as the tradition of success that has been created. I am excited about the quality of the support staff and the players who are part of the set-up and I am looking forward to this opportunity with all humility and positive expectations.”
IPL being a very different platform than Ranji Trophy, Pandit will have his task cut out in rebuilding KKR, who did not fare very well in the last IPL.
“We are very excited that Chandu is joining the Knight Riders family to lead us through the next phase of our journey,” KKR CEO Venky Mysore, said. “His deep commitment to what he does and his track record of success in domestic cricket is there for everyone to see. We are looking forward to his partnership with our skipper Shreyas Iyer, which promises to be an exciting one,” he was quoted in a team statement.
KKR COACHES
2008-09: John Buchanan; 2010-11: Dave Whatmore; 2012-13: Trevor Bayliss; 2016-19: Jacques Kallis; 2020-22: Brendon McCulum; 2022-: Chandrakanth Pandit