On July 29, Tuesday, Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders replaced head coach Chandrakant Pandit after three years. Pandit was with the Knight Riders since 2023 IPL and coached the team led by Ajinkya Rahane for three seasons. The team finished 7th in his first season and won the title in 2024, ending a 10-year drought.
Things went downhill in the last season as the Rahane-led team finished 8th and that’s why the change. Pandit is now looking for new opportunities and we will look at three teams that can benefit from him.
1. Lucknow Super Giants
Lucknow Super Giants entered the IPL in 2022. The team led by Rishabh Pant reached the playoffs but didn’t win the title or the finals. Lucknow has had two coaches in four seasons. Andy Flower helped the Giants reach the playoffs twice before moving to RCB. Justin Langer then tried to improve the team for the Sanjiv Goenka-owned group.
Things aren’t going well for LSG as reports suggest the management is not happy with Langer and might fire him before the next season. Under Langer, LSG finished 7th in 2024 and 2025. If he is fired, Pandit could be a good fit for the Super Giants as he can relate to young players and there won’t be a language issue.
2. Sunrisers Hyderabad
Sunrisers Hyderabad also want their second IPL title. They came close in 2024 when they reached the finals but lost to Pandit’s KKR. Daniel Vettori’s first season as head coach saw an aggressive approach that surprised opponents. In the last season, this didn’t work and SRH finished 6th. The team may need to adjust their strategy and hire an Indian coach like Chandrakant Pandit to improve their situation.
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3. Rajasthan Royals
Rajasthan Royals had a tough IPL season, seemed to struggle after the auction. They released players like Yuzvendra Chahal, Jos Buttler and Trent Boult who performed well for their new teams.RR’s team strength went down and that was reflected in their season. Sanju Samson led the team to 9th position with just 4 wins. There is pressure on coach Rahul Dravid and RR should bring in Pandit for the team’s sake. Pandit is good at making average teams competitive as seen with KKR in 2024.
