New Delhi: Former India pacer Zaheer Khan on Wednesday joined Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) as their mentor ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Zaheer will replace former LSG mentor Gautam Gambhir, who parted ways with the franchise to join Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) last year before taking over from Rahul Dravid as the head coach of the Indian cricket team. The mentor post at LSG was vacant after Gambhir’s departure.
Apart from being the team’s mentor, Zaheer will also be in charge of the overall development of the players at LSG, confirmed Sanjiv Goenka, the owner of the franchise. One of the finest Indian fast bowlers of all time, Zaheer’s inclusion in the LSG’s backroom staff will significantly boost their bowling set-up. Besides Gambhir, LSG also had to part ways with bowling coach Morne Morkel, who joined Team India as their bowling coach earlier this month.
Zaheer will work alongside LSG head coach Justin Langer and will be hoping to play a key role in shaping the bowling attack of the franchise along with developing the youngsters to embrace the big stage. The former India pacer will be a guiding force for the young guns in the team much like his playing days where he helped many young bowlers in the Indian team.
Zaheer enjoyed a stellar international career for Team India as he finished with 311 wickets in 92 Tests. He is only behind the legendary Kapil Dev in the list of fast bowlers with the most Test wickets for India. In ODIs, the left-arm pacer picked up 282 wickets in 200 matches and played an instrumental role in India’s 2011 ODI World Cup triumph. Zaheer transitioned into coaching after retiring from cricket.
Zaheer Khan’s coaching CV
Zaheer drew curtains on his career in 2017 and took his first step in coaching when he was appointed as the director of cricket of Mumbai Indians in 2018. The former India fast bowler worked alongside the likes of head coach Mahela Jayawardene and bowling coach Shane Bond at Mumbai Indians. He served as the franchise’s director of cricket for 4 seasons from 2018 to 2022.
Zaheer was then promoted to the role of head of global development of the MI franchises across all T20 leagues globally. He was responsible for player development, and identification and grooming of talent across all franchises under the MI umbrella. He stepped down from the post to join Lucknow Super Giants as their new mentor ahead of IPL 2025.
During Zaheer’s stint with Mumbai Indians, the team enjoyed great success in the IPL, winning back-to-back titles in 2019 and 2020. MI’s IPL triumph in 2020 remains their last title in the league as they have failed to win the trophy in the last four seasons.
Former India pacer Zaheer Khan joined Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) as the team’s mentor ahead of IPL 2025. Here is a look at Zaheer’s coaching CV and his overall experience. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
