Kolkata Knight Riders (ANI) Kolkata: The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) go into the new IPL season with a host of new faces and also some holes to fill. Abhishek Nayar, who takes over as the team’s new head coach after playing a big role in nurturing their academy, feels that “it will be a season of opportunity” for both the support staff and the players.With a dressing room with Dwayne Bravo as ‘mentor’, Shane Watson as assistant coach and Tim Southee as bowling coach, along with long-time franchise finisher Andre Russell sitting in the dugout in the new role of ‘power coach’, Nayar feels his job is now easier. “For me, the label has changed, but the role remains pretty similar. It’s wonderful to have a leadership group like that.”
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Jay Shah calls 2019 to 2026 as the golden era of Indian cricket “Both captain Ajinkya (Rahane) and I will be relying a lot on our entire support group to make sure we can meet the challenges throughout the season. The players will enjoy the luxury of having so much input in the dressing room,” Nayar said.The former Mumbai cricketer is happy with the current form of the players but feels that the team needs to get the combinations right. “The priority is to make our combinations work. Yes, they are all in form, but the important thing is to place them well enough,” said Nayar.Without Russell this time, Nayar felt players like Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh and others would get more opportunities. “Rinku has done it for India for many years. And Raman did it for us in the season we won the championship. So we are very hopeful that they will repeat their performances,” said Nayar.A blow for the rest of the season?The team management said they are awaiting a medical update from the BCCI Center of Excellence in Bengaluru on key pacemaker Harshit Rana. “Once the medical team communicates with us, we will let you know,” Nayar said, adding, “It is not easy to replace Harshit Rana. But we have looked at a few bowlers in the last few days.”Navdeep Saini, Akash Madhwal, Simarjeet Singh, Sandeep Warrier and KM Asif are some of the fast bowlers called up by KKR during their training session at the Eden Gardens this week. “Losing some key bowling options is not what you plan for, but you have to accept it,” Bravo said, adding: “The good thing is there’s a lot of depth there.”KKR are also awaiting an injury report on Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana. “Pathirana is undergoing rehabilitation. He will undergo tests after that,” Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said in a statement.
