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From the 2022 season onwards, the Indian Premier League (IPL) is set to be a ten-team affair and before the start of the new season, the two new franchises have a lot to catch up on before they are at par with the existing franchises in the competition. For beginners, neither Lucknow nor Ahmedabad - the two new franchises - have a team name so far.
However, even before that Lucknow has started its process of strengthening the squad. It had already roped in Gautam Gambhir as the mentor of the franchise and now the latest to the franchise is Vijay Dahiya who has been included as an assistant coach. The 48-year-old is from Haryana and has rich coaching and talent scouting experience, involved as a scout for the Delhi Capitals franchise in recent years along with performing the same role for the Delhi Ranji Trophy side.
"I am delighted and grateful for the opportunity given to me to work with the Lucknow IPL franchise," Dahiya said as quoted by Times of India.
Earlier Gambhir had also thanked the Lucknow franchise for getting him involved with the team in a motivational role. He seemed pumped up to go back the cricketing scene and said the fire to win still burns bright in him.
"It’s a privilege to be in the contest again. Thanks Dr.Goenka for incl me in #LucknowIPLTeam as its mentor. The fire to win still burns bright inside me, the desire to leave a winner’s legacy still kicks me. I won’t be contesting for a dressing room but for the spirit & soul of UP," Gambhir had tweeted after he was formally announced as team's mentor.
In addition, Lucknow have also appointed former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower as their head coach. Although there is no official word, India's new limited-overs full-time vice-captain KL Rahul, who was Punjab's skipper for the last two seasons, is also expected to lead the Sanjiv Goenka-owned franchise. Rahul was not retained by Punjab and even shared a farewell message for the franchise on social media which has added fuel to the speculations.