Adrian Le Roux brings the curtains down on his 12-year KKR journey with deep gratitude

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) started their journey in the Indian Premier League (IPL) ever since the inaugural season. All through these years, the team has been a witness to a number of ups and downs. In the first four seasons, the Men in Gold and Purple couldn’t garner a whole lot of success. But 2012 saw a change in fortunes as they roped in Gautam Gambhir and made him the captain.

In the same year, KKR won the championship for the maiden time, beating Chennai Super Kings (CSK). A couple of years later in 2014, the Knights won their second title, this time defeating the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP). However, even Gambhir bid adieu to them before the 2018 season and went to the Delhi Daredevils, now Capitals, and it turned out to be his swansong in the T20 tournament.

Kolkata lucky to have some of the best in the business

Over the years, KKR has been fortunate to get some of the best players in the format, including the likes of Jacques Kallis, Shoaib Akhtar, Brendon McCullum and others. In the coaching area, Trevor Bayliss, the 2019 World Cup winning-coach, played a great role in the growth of the Knight Riders. The team, now led by Dinesh Karthik, has also been privileged to have Wasim Akram as a coach.

Even as number of players and members of the support staff kept changing with the passage of time, there was one man, who stayed with the team for their first 12 editions. And it’s Adrian Le Roux, their Strength and Conditioning Coach. In the last few months, even Kallis and Simon Katich left the franchise. Now even Le Roux has bid KKR goodbye going in the next season.

Expressing deep gratitude to one and all, the veteran took to Twitter and wrote, “Purple & gold. After 12 seasons it is time to move on. Thank you to all the coaches, staff, players & @KKRiders fans who made this journey very very special. @iamsrk @iam_juhi #JayMetha @VenkyMysore I am truly grateful the opportunity & support you gave me #korbolorbojeetbo

Here is Le Roux’s post

Purple & gold. After 12 seasons it is time to move on. Thank you to all the coaches, staff, players & @KKRiders fans who made this journey very very special. @iamsrk @iam_juhi #JayMetha @VenkyMysore I am truly grateful the opportunity & support you gave me #korbolorbojeetbo pic.twitter.com/uFX9WLUyaY

— Adrian Le Roux (@adrian_leroux) November 21, 2019