3 reasons why Zaheer Khan would be the perfect mentor for Lucknow Super Giants
After Gautam Gambhir was appointed India men's head coach and took Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate with him, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were looked at with sympathetic eyes. They had lost their highly popular mentor, batting coach and fielding coach in one swoop immediately after winning the title in 2024.
But the pain of another franchise went unnoticed. Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) during this period lost their mentor - Gambhir in 2023 - too, failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time, saw the mentor win a title with another team and then take away their bowling coach, Morne Morkel, with him to India men's team.
More than KKR, it's LSG who needed a psychological rebuild. And they might have found the perfect piece for it. Cricbuzz recently reported that they are looking at signing former India pacer Zaheer Khan from Mumbai Indians (MI) as their mentor. We look at three reasons this could be the perfect move:
#3 Supremely experienced, brilliant mind
The first aspect that sells Zaheer to LSG is his perfect basics. He won't be a newbie, thanks to his abundant experience in various coaching and administrative roles at MI.
Signing a five-time champion side's Global Head of Cricket Development (which involves overseeing all MI franchises around the world) as a mentor is nothing short of a scoop.
Secondly, Zaheer has a proven record of improving players since his playing days.
"Zaheer's biggest strength is he's mentally in a very calm state," India's bowling coach in the early 2010s, Eric Simons had told India Today in 2013. "When a bowler is going for runs, he would tell him you can come back and ways of how he can do it. He speaks from knowledge because he has done it himself many times over."
"The Indian bowlers here are working as a pack and it's a great environment they have been able to create. The bowling coach cannot come on the field. He is the bowling coach on the field. Coaching is not about you, it's about us."
Bowlers who have worked under him at MI don't take too long to mention his name and credit him for improving their game in interviews as well.
"I always looked up to Bumrah Bhai and Zaheer Bhai because they are one of the best bowlers that Indian cricket has produced," Mohsin Khan, now at LSG, told Sportskeeda in 2022.
"Both have played a huge role in my improvement, and I will always be thankful to them about it. They always helped and guided me a lot about pace, yorkers, and slower bouncers. Also, I learned a lot from them about off-the-field habits because that matters in player improvement."
There was a reason why Anil Kumble wanted Zaheer as his bowling coach around 2017. The BCCI considered him for Gambhir's coaching group and even batters who have worked with him speak highly of his cricketing brain.
He knows the ins and outs of IPL and even higher-level teams and would need no time adjusting to the franchise.
#2 Big name replacement for Gambhir
Optics are a huge part of IPL. You don't need coaches who are great but those who inspire confidence in the team as well as the supporters because they have been obviously great over the years.
You can't overstate Gambhir's impact at KKR. They were always a good team but he was the glue, who said the right things, helped the coaches with the right small suggestions and made a massive difference.
The vacuum he left was heavily felt at LSG as they failed to gather any kind of momentum at the tournament. Zaheer would be the perfect filler for that gaping hole, giving the franchise not only a renowned Indian voice in the support staff but also someone who the players would look up to, listen to and whose philosophy they'll happily follow.
The former Indian bowler would also be the calm supporting side character to head coach Justin Langer's fiery style which is never a bad idea.
#1 Gives much-needed bowling coach cushion for LSG
Gambhir is not the only one to leave LSG. A year after his departure, LSG's bowling coach Morne Morkel has followed the former mentor to the Indian men's team.
LSG have invested heavily in young fast-bowling resources with Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, Yash Thakur, Naveen-ul-Haq, Shamar Joseph and others forming a bit of an identity for the team. That was nicely supported by Morkel's leadership.
Zaheer coming in as a mentor would be in line with that identity and also beneficial to the fast bowlers who can see him as an encyclopedia. The former fast-bowler would also love having a clear role as the mentor, instead of something ambiguous.