Star all-arounder Andre Russell has come forward to refute recent claims made by former South African and Namibian all-rounder David Wiese regarding dissatisfaction among overseas cricketers with Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) coaching style under Chandrakant Pandit. After a brief stint with KKR the previous season, Wiese expressed concerns about the players’ perceived’militant’ coaching style, especially with regard to Pandit’s rules about behaviour and attire.
“In India, people know him (Pandit) as a very tough coach. Recently, Wiese stated on the podcast “Hitman for Hire: A year in the life of a franchise cricketer” that “He is very strict, very disciplinarian, and that type of stuff.”
“When you have overseas players in a franchise cricket team who have travelled the world, sometimes they don’t need someone to come in and tell them what to wear, how to behave, and what to do all the time. That was difficult, then.
Russell, when questioned about the situation on Thursday, prior to KKR’s away game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, stated that the players were content with Pandit.
“We knew the kind of guy he is from working with him last year, and that made things a lot easier for us,” the Jamaican said.
“During your first year of working with a coach, you need to make sure you have faith in their philosophy.As professionals, there are certain things we must do. Things have been going well.
Pandit’s appointment as the head coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2023, following in Brendon McCullum’s footsteps, was highly anticipated due to his remarkable domestic cricket record. Notable for leading Madhya Pradesh to a Ranji Trophy victory and Vidarbha to back-to-back championships in 2018 and 2019, Pandit’s coaching skills attracted a lot of attention.
Dragon Riders take on RCB
Last week, KKR continued their winning start to the season when they defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by a narrow margin of four runs in a thrilling match played in Kolkata. Now, the team heads to Bengaluru in hopes of being the first to win on the road this year.
