Former India captain and head coach, Anil Kumble could make his return to coaching with the Indian Premier League franchise Kings XI Punjab. As per a report in Mumbai Mirror, Kumble is in talks with the franchise and a final decision over the team’s next head coach will be taken when the board of the franchise meets soon.
Kumble might table a meeting with the franchise owners, the report adds.
The former India leg-spinner has previously been associated with Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore as their chief mentor. In 2016, he was appointed as team India’s head coach for a period of one year.
Under him, India defeated West Indies Down Under and dominated the proceedings at home in the 2016/17 season. He relinquished his post a day after India lost the final of ICC Champions Trophy 2017 due to untenable relation with skipper Virat Kohli.
Kumble, India’s highest wicket-taker in Tests and ODIs, did not take up any coaching assignment thereafter and his association with KXIP will mark his comeback to the T20 league.
KXIP had Mike Hesson as their head coach in the previous season. He quit his post and joined Royal Challengers Bangalore after he came second to Ravi Shastri for India head coach job. Along with him, Craig McMillan, Sridharan Sriram and Ryan Harris also quit their post. Their stay at the franchise lasted for just one year as they had replaced Virender Sehwag, Brad Hodge, Venkatesh Prasad and Mithun Manhas before IPL 2019.
The report also adds that George Bailey has accepted KXIP’s proposal to join them as a batting coach. Australia’s former white-ball skipper, Bailey is yet to retire from the game and is currently playing Marsh one-day cup for Tasmania. In fact, he was in line to make his comeback to the Test side last year for the fourth game against South Africa after the infamous ball-tampering saga.
The auction for IPL 2020 will take place in Kolkata on December 19. The trading window is open till November 14. Mumbai Indians have already traded Mayank Markande to Delhi Capitals. Ajinkya Rahane and R Ashwin are also in line to join Shreyas Iyer-led side for the next season.
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