IPL: Brendon McCullum set to become Kolkata Knight Riders assistant coach

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) has fond memories when it comes to Brendon McCullum. The former New Zealand skipper lit up the 2008 Indian Premier League (IPL) with a knock of 158 in the inaugural match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. After a few years, he moved to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and then played for the Gujarat Lions and RCB as well.

He is set to return to the Knight Riders setup, this time as the assistant coach. Earlier, Simon Katich bid adieu to the franchise and McCullum will be replacing him. Head coach Jacques Kallis also left the Dinesh Karthik-led team after joining KKR as a player in 2011. Recently, McCullum retired from all forms of cricket and mentioned in his statement about the road ahead in the coaching field.

McCullum to replace Katich in CPL as well

“The next chapter, in both media and coaching, will challenge me further,” he was quoted as saying. As per reports in ESPNcricinfo, the 37-year-old will also take over as the head of the Trinbago Knight Riders in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL). In both the IPL and the CPL, he replaced Katich. With McCullum in the team, the Dwayne Bravo-captained TKR won the championship in 2017 and 2018.

He was also a park of the Kolkata-based franchise that won the 2012 edition of the IPL under the leadership of Gautam Gambhir. The Knights didn’t have the greatest of seasons last time around as they failed to qualify beyond the round-robin stage. Karthik and Co won quite a few games to start with but lost the momentum in the middle. Though they got back to winning ways, it was too late.

Regarding the team, there have also been reports that the likes of Windies all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite and New Zealand fast bowler Lockie Ferguson may leave the Knights. Both came into the setup last season but flattered to deceive throughout the T20 league.

As far as McCullum is concerned, he last played for the Toronto Nationals in the Global T20 Canada but didn’t get the runs. A few days ago, he put forth his decision to hang his boots. Back in 2016, Baz bowed out of international cricket with the fastest Test century against Australia.

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