IPL 2023: KKR promote James Foster as assistant coach

Former England wicketkeeper-batter James Foster has been promoted to the position of the assistant coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders. KKR confirmed this news on their official social media handles on Tuesday, November 8.

The franchise had appointed Foster as their fielding coach in early 2020 and he was an integral member of the setup for the next three seasons that saw the two-time winners make the finals of the 2021 edition under Eoin Morgan where they went down to CSK.

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KKR has made a host of changes to their support staff

James Foster will now be serving as the assistant coach of the Kolkata-based franchise from the 2023 season onwards. He would be reporting to head coach Chandrakant Pandit who succeeded former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum after he parted ways with the franchise after signing to coach the England Test team.

Meanwhile, veteran Netherlands cricketer Ryan ten Doeschate will be replacing James Foster as the KKR fielding coach. In fact, Ryan had represented the club as a player in the 2011 edition of the marquee tournament. He remained with the club till the 2015 season and was also a member of the title-winning squads in the 2012 and 2014 editions.

Foster has some amount of coaching experience under his belt. He had served as the head coach of the Khulna Tigers during the 2019/20 season of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). Apart from that, the Englishman also served as the assistant coach of the Vancouver Knights who emerged victorious in the inaugural edition of the Canada Global T20 League in 2018.

The 2022 season of the IPL happened to be a forgettable one for Kolkata Knight Riders as they finished at the seventh position winning six out of the 14 league matches including eight losses and 12 points to their tally at an NRR of +0.146. With a change in management, the two-time winners would now be hoping for a revival in fortunes in 2023.