Picture Credit: KKR
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) head coach Brendon McCullum is expected to step down from his role as the head coach of the IPL franchise after the end of this season. Reports have emerged that the former New Zealand cricketer has already informed the stakeholders of the franchise about his decision to step down. Notably, McCullum is in contention to take up England’s national cricket team’s head coach job.
According to a report in the Indian Express, the KKR head coach informed the players about his decision in a recent team meeting. “He informed us that he won’t be part of KKR going ahead as he will be taking up a job as England cricket team coach. He informed us during a team meeting a few days ago,” Indian Express quoted a KKR insider.
Notably, the former Kiwi cricketer has been in a long association with the Kolkata-based franchise. He played for them in the inaugural edition and lit up the M Chinnaswamy stadium with his stupendous knock of 158. After the swashbuckling batter retired, he was handed the head coach job with KKR in 2019. McCullum earned a lot of praise for his work in 2021 when KKR made a turnaround and reached the finals.
However, in IPL 2022, McCullum’s work as head coach is under scrutiny with KKR struggling to make it to the playoff. McCullum has been under the scanner for continuously chopping and changing the playing eleven. In one of the games, Shreyas Iyer was also seen having an animated chat with McCullum after he sent Shivam Mavi ahead of Pat Cummins in batting.
McCullum leading the race to England’s head coach job
McCullum’s stint with KKR will be coming to an end as he is leading the race to England’s head coach job. British media houses have reported that the announcement regarding the same will be made sooner or later.