ESPNcricinfo reported that Zaheer Khan, a former Indian bowler, is said to be in talks with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) about possibly becoming the team’s mentor.
The report indicates that LSG is keen on having this former India player as part of their coaching staff. Meanwhile, two other franchises are interested in recruiting the 45-year-old player.
From 2018 through 2022, he served as director of cricket with Mumbai Indians (MI) franchise and prior to that, he was head of global development for the side.
Lucknow’s mentorship position remained vacant after Gautam Gambhir left. Gambhir eventually joined Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as an IPL 2024 season mentor and helped them secure their third IPL title.
Earlier speculations claimed Zaheer could be appointed as India’s bowling coach. However, these did not come true. Later on, Gambhir brought in Morne Morkel who became his assistant coach and even served as a bowling consultant for Indian national cricket team.
The ESPNcricinfo piece highlights that LSG plans to expand his role by including him in various scouting activities and off-season training programs involving the players development programs.
Presently Justin Langer heads Lucknow Super Giants taking over from Andy Flower before the start of IPL 2024; last T20 League season saw LSG fail short of making it to playoffs stage.
Zaheer is widely regarded one of the top left-arm pace bowlers ever in cricket history with figures of 311 wickets from his 92 Tests matches and a total haul of six hundred ten scalps claimed in three hundred nine internationals games for India.
During his time at IPL, he played for teams like Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Daredevils; having played over 100 matches across all formats where he took more than a century wicket while economy rate has been 7.59.
