KKR appoint Shane Watson as Abhishek Nayar’s assistant coach for IPL 2026

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have announced the arrival of Shane Watson as the new ‘Assistant Coach’ ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. This is just a major overhaul that the three-time IPL champions are doing before the IPL 2026 begins. With the retention deadline set for November 15, this is a huge development for KKR, who recently named their ‘Head Coach‘ in Abhishek Nayar as well.

Watson’s association started from the inaugural season, where he lifted the trophy with the Rajasthan Royals (RR). He became the Player of the Tournament that year and repeated the feat again in 2013. He won IPL 2018 with CSK as well, for whom he hammered a century in the final.

Watson-Nayar to make KKR great again

Nayar replaced Chandrakant Pandit, who joined the team in 2022 and won the IPL 2024 alongside Gautam Gambhir, who was the mentor at that time and Shreyas Iyer, who was the captain. Having failed to qualify for the playoffs in three of the last four seasons, Kolkata were desperate for a course correction.

Speaking on the announcement, Venky Mysore, CEO of Kolkata Knight Riders, said, “We are thrilled to welcome Shane Watson to the KKR family. His experience as a player and coach at the highest level will add immense value to our team culture and preparation. His understanding of the T20 format is world-class, and we look forward to his contributions both on and off the field.”

Now, with Watson joining forces with Nayar, KKR have two young coaches who can imbibe a great T20 mindset among the players. They have all the talent in the squad, ranging from Indians Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana to overseas stars in Andre Russell and Sunil Narine. The key would be handling the Venkatesh Iyer situation, who sits on a massive Rs 23.75 paycheque, an amount that can make or break KKR’s IPL 2026 auction.

Watson expressed his excitement about joining KKR, saying, “It’s a great honour to be part of a franchise as iconic as Kolkata Knight Riders. I’ve always admired the passion of KKR fans and the team’s commitment to excellence. I’m eager to work closely with the coaching group and players to help bring another title to Kolkata.”

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