Gary Kirsten may return to IPL as Rajkot coach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NewDelhi: Former India and Delhi Daredevils coach, Gary Kirsten, is likely to make a comeback to the Indian Premier League (IPL) as the new Rajkot franchise is in talks with the South African for a coaching role, The Indian Express has reported.

The Intex-owned franchise, who – along with the Sanjiv Goenka-owned Pune – will replace the suspended Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) to complete the eight-team IPL line-up for 2016 and 2017 editions, is interested to get Kirsten into their dugout to mentor the squad, which they expect to get to full strength at the players' auction in February next year.

Kirsten has an impressive resume as the head coach of India and South Africa, though his two-year coaching stint with the Daredevils reaped little benefits.

The South Africa coach was at the helm of Indian team when it lifted its second World Cup in 2011. He then decided not to renew his contract and went on to take up the coaching role for his home team, guiding them to the No. 1 spot in the ICC Test rankings.

According to the newspaper's source, the five players Rajkot picked during the IPL Draft earlier this month have already been informed about the franchise's interest in Kirsten as the team's coach.

The franchise opted for Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Brendon McCullum, James Faulkner and Dwayne Bravo as its five players of choice from the 50-man draft that consisted capped and uncapped players from CSK and RR.

On the other hand, the Pune franchise is strongly linked with Stephen Fleming to coach the team that is likely to be led by MS Dhoni.