August 28, 2024

IPL 2025: Zaheer Khan joins LSG as a mentor

The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) are excited to expand Zaheer Khan’s role, including scouting and player development. Zaheer has joined LSG as their mentor, taking over from Gautam Gambhir, who left after the 2023 IPL season. Gambhir has since become the mentor for Kolkata Knight Riders for IPL 2024 and the head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team.

In addition to his mentoring role, Zaheer will also serve as the bowling coach, stepping in for Morne Morkel, who has moved to join Gambhir’s coaching team with the Indian team. Zaheer hinted at his new responsibilities during a media event after his appointment. Still, he did not explicitly confirm his role as bowling coach. “If I am there in the set-up, does the team need another bowling coach?”

From 2018 to 2022, Zaheer Khan worked with the Mumbai Indians (MI) as director of cricket and later as head of global development. Before his stint with MI, he played for three IPL teams: MI, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Delhi Daredevils. Over ten seasons, Zaheer appeared in 100 IPL matches, taking 102 wickets with an economy rate of 7.58. He last played in the tournament in 2017 as captain of the Daredevils before retiring from cricket.

As reported by iplwin365.online, besides his role as mentor for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), the team is also looking to expand Zaheer’s responsibilities, including scouting and player development during the off-season.

The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) coaching staff is led by Justin Langer, who took over from Andy Flower as head coach for IPL 2024. Lance Klusener and Adam Voges are his assistants. Despite making the playoffs in their first two seasons, the team, led by KL Rahul, narrowly missed the top four in 2024 due to a net run rate.

Zaheer Khan returns to the IPL as teams prepare for a major auction. The Indian Premier League (IPL) is expected to announce the rules for player retention by early September.

ICC rankings: Brook Jumps to Fourth Place Among Test Batters, Rizwan Enters Top 10

Babar Azam has dropped six places to ninth in the ICC Test batting rankings. This comes after his recent scores of a golden duck and 22 in Pakistan’s historic Test loss to Bangladesh in Rawalpindi. England’s Harry Brook has risen to fourth in the Test batting rankings, climbing three spots following his scores of 56 and 32 in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford. Joe Root remains at the top, with Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell in second and third place, respectively.

Brook’s move up the rankings has pushed Babar Azam, Steven Smith, and Rohit Sharma down. Meanwhile, Mohammad Rizwan, who scored 171 not out and 51 in the Test against Bangladesh, has jumped seven spots to joint 10th with Usman Khawaja. Saud Shakeel scored a century in that match and has moved to 13th.

Mushfiqur Rahim, who played a crucial role in Bangladesh’s historic win with a score of 191, has achieved a career-high ranking, moving seven spots to 17th. Sri Lanka’s Prabath Jayasuriya has moved ninth among Test bowlers after taking five wickets in Manchester. Chris Woakes has climbed to eighth among Test all-rounders and moved to 16th in the bowlers’ rankings following his match figures of 6 for 90.

Pooran, Hosein, Motie gain in T20I rankings

Following West Indies’ 3-0 series win over South Africa, Nicholas Pooran has moved up three spots to ninth in the T20I batting rankings. His teammates Akeal Hosein and Gudakesh Motie have also made significant gains, now ranked second and third among T20I bowlers, just behind England’s Adil Rashid.