Indian National Cricket Team bowling great Zaheer Khan has been officially appointed as the mentor of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise. Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) Wednesday, August 28.
Rumors have been rife for the past few weeks that Lucknow Super Giants are approaching the Indian legend to join the franchise as a mentor.
Notably, the mentor position at LSG was vacant as Gautam Gambhir decided to leave the franchise in 2024 to join Kolkata Knight Riders. Gambhir served as the team’s mentor in 2022 – LSG’s first season – and 2023. In both the seasons, the Super Giants performed well and qualified for the playoffs.
However, in the 2024 season without a mentor, they did not perform well and ranked 7th. With the appointment of Zaheer Khan, the owners would be hoping that the team will bounce back from their disappointing 2024 season.
Currently, the coaching staff of Lucknow Super Giants looks great as Zaheer is the mentor, Justin Langer is the head coach, Jonty Rhodes is the fielding coach, Lance Klusener is the assistant coach and Adam Voges is the advisor.
Some reports suggest that Zaheer Khan will have a wider profile at LSG as he will serve as head of the talent development program and will be involved in scouting.
“I support the Impact Player rule because…” – Zaheer Khan
All your expectations end here!
The king of reverse swing, an Indian legend #ZahirKhan is responsible as a mentor @LucknowIPL #ZaheerNowSuperGiant@DrSanjivGoenka @ImZaheer pic.twitter.com/sOr9vcyzYu
— RP Sanjiv Goenka Group (@rpsggroup) August 28, 2024
In a press conference, LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka presented Zaheer Khan with a special jersey and announced his appointment. During the same media interaction, the newly appointed mentor of the franchise stated that he will ensure that the process required to take LSG to the next level is followed from the next season. He (as quoted by Revsportz):
“I will make sure that the process required to take LSG to the next level is in place. Next season will be a special season.”
The 45-year-old also talked about and spoke in favor of the much-discussed effective player rule. He said he likes the rule because it gives players who don’t have wickets an opportunity. He said:
“I support the Impact Player rule because it gives loose players a lot of opportunities.”
Apart from Zaheer joining LSG, the other major news in the franchise is whether KL Rahul will remain the captain or be released. Some rumors suggest that Rahul wants to quit the franchise and rejoin RCB, but nothing has been confirmed yet.
Speaking on the matter in a press conference, Sanjiv Goenka said that Rahul is an integral part of the franchise but did not make any announcement on whether he should go or stay.
“KL Rahul is an important and integral part of the Supergiants family,” he said.
Talking more about Zaheer Khan, he was one of the key players behind India winning the 2011 World Cup and contributed immensely to Indian cricket with the ball. He is the second most successful Indian pacer in the history of Test cricket as he has scored 311 wickets. In total, he represented India in 92 Tests, 200 ODIs and 17 T20Is.
He also made a big impact in the Indian Premier League, playing 100 matches and picking up 102 wickets at an economy of 7.59. His last appearance in the Indian Premier League came in 2017 before he retired from all forms of cricket.
Zaheer Khan also served as global development head and director of cricket for Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League.
 franchise Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Wednesday, August 28.){kind=link}