Published: May 13, 2016, 07:23 PM (IST)
Edited: May 13, 2016, 07:23 PM (IST)
Trinbago Knight Riders has announced that legendary South African cricketer Jacques Kallis will serve as its chief mentor for the 2016 Caribbean Premier League campaign. Kallis, an accomplished all-rounder who scored 19,695 first-class runs and took 427 wickets overall in an illustrious career across all three formats, was a key part of the team’s victorious campaign last year. Now he, along with head coach, Simon Helmot, will lead the charge as defending champions. “We are very glad to have the legend on-board in the TKR set-up as Chief Mentor and I look forward to working with him closely this year”, said Simon Helmot, Head Coach of TKR. READ: Jacques Kallis: KKR eyeing play offs berth in IPL 2016
Kallis has a long-standing association with the Knight Riders family. He played for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) from 2011 to 2014 and played a big role in helping KKR win two IPL championships in 2012 and 2014. He then became part of the coaching set-up of the team, before taking over the mantle of Head Coach of KKR this year. READ: Jacques Kallis: Kolkata Knight Riders’ skillful players make my job easier as coach
Kallis is currently the head coach of KKR and says that his team are focused on getting to he playoffs. “Most of our away games are gone. We are sitting pretty. Having last five games at home makes our life a lot easier. But we have to play good cricket. It is nice to have this cushion. Probably need 8 wins to make the last four. So focussing on getting to the play offs first. Though it sounds clichéd, we are looking to take one game at a time,” Kallis said at the second edition of the Knight Golf event — a charity event of donating proceeds from the sponsorship towards the treatment of underprivileged children in Kolkata.
(With inputs from IANS)
