Former Australian all-rounder and two-time Indian Premier League (IPL) winner Shane Watson was appointed the assistant coach of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Thursday. The 44-year-old is the latest appointment to a revamped support staff, which has seen the likes of Chandrakant Pandit and Bharat Arun exit over the last few months. The latter left the three-time champions to become the bowling coach at Lucknow Super Giants.
Watson will work in tandem with Abhishek Nayar, who was appointed the head coach last week. He played in the IPL for Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Chennai Super Kings, winning the league in 2008 and 2018. He retired at the end of the 2020 season after playing 145 matches, starting from the inaugural season.
He played 59 Tests, 190 ODIs, and 58 T20Is for Australia, scoring over 10,000 runs and taking over 280 wickets across the three formats, and was also a key part of Australia’s 2007 and 2015 ODI World Cup-winning squads.
“We are thrilled to welcome Shane Watson to the KKR family. His experience as a player and coach at the highest level will add immense value to our team culture and preparation. His understanding of the T20 format is world-class, and we look forward to his contributions both on and off the field,” KKR CEO Venky Mysore said in a statement.
Watson said he was honoured to be part of the KKR support staff and looked forward to working with the players and the other coaches.
“It’s a great honour to be part of a franchise as iconic as Kolkata Knight Riders. I’ve always admired the passion of KKR fans and the team’s commitment to excellence. I’m eager to work closely with the coaching group and players to help bring another title to Kolkata,” he said. Dwayne Bravo will continue to be a mentor to the franchise, which won the league in 2024.