 Dave Whatmore has been officially named the coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders
side. However, the bigger news was that Sourav Ganguly has been appointed
as the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders side, ending months of speculation.
Ganguly had been the captain of the side in the first season of the IPL but
was replaced by Brendon McCullum in the second season. However, the performance
of the Knight Riders side was appalling under the captaincy of McCullum and
that meant that the side finished last in the eight-side tournament. The other
problem with having McCullum as the skipper in this season was that he could
not commit himself for more than a few games due to his international commitments.
This meant that apart from Ganguly, there was no real contender for the post
of the captaincy.
John Buchanan was the coach of the side for the first two seasons but the poor
performances meant that he has been sacked as well.
The others who have been included in the support staff are Wasim Akram
as their mentor, Vijay Dahiya, the former India wicketkeeper and Delhi
coach, as the assistant coach, and Andrew Leipus as physiotherapist and
Adrian Le Roux as physical trainer.
Ganguly said that he would look forward to turning around the fortunes of the
side which had a torrid time last season. In a press release, he said, "I
am excited at the prospect of working with Dav and the entire team closely in
addition to playing at our home ground once again." It has been said that
Ganguly will be responsible for the decisions related to cricket.
As for Whatmore, his main role would be to ensure that the players gel as a
unit after the performances in the previous season, given that they would feel
battered and bruised.
Whatmore's record as a coach has been amazing, and he was one of the front
runners to coach India when Greg Chappell had been sacked. Later, he
was offered the role of being the head of the National Cricket Academy. He has
coached the Sri Lankan side in the 1996 World Cup, and the team had gone on
to win the tournament, which was followed by a stint with the Bangladeshi side,
in the 2007 World Cup where they beat India and South Africa in the tournament.
He then coached Lancashire to a tournament wins in the NatWest and Sunday League
before coaching India Under-19 team that won the junior World Cup in Malaysia.
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