Dav Whatmore named Kolkata coach

Dav Whatmore has been confirmed as the new coach of Kolkata Knight Riders, filling in the vacancy left by the sacking of John Buchanan after IPL 2009. His appointment was part of a team management overhaul: the franchise also recalled Sourav Ganguly as captain, named Wasim Akram as their mentor, signed on Vijay Dahiya, the former India wicketkeeper and Delhi coach, to assist Whatmore, while retaining Andrew Leipus as physiotherapist and Adrian Le Roux as physical trainer.

Ganguly said in a press release issued by the team management today that he was keen to bring a turnaround in Kolkata's fortune after a nightmarish 2009 season, in which they finished last. "I am excited at the prospect of working with Dav and the entire team closely in addition to playing at our home ground once again," he said. Ganguly would be responsible for all cricket-related decisions for the next season.

Speaking to Cricinfo, Whatmore said his main objective as coach would be to ensure that his players gel as a unit and start thinking positively after two bad IPL seasons - in which Kolkata finished sixth and eighth - and, to that end, he would bank on Ganguly's wealth of knowledge and Akram's exceptional game-reading skills to turn the team around.

He also said he was confident his experience in the region - he coached the 1996 World Cup-winning Sri Lankan team and later, Bangladesh - would help him develop a "decent relationship" with Ganguly, who has had a controversial history with foreign coaches including Greg Chappell for the Indian team and Buchanan. "I have a fair idea and a fair understanding of the importance of Sourav in Kolkata and it's about getting the best out of him as it is with everyone else."

Significantly, Whatmore said he would not employ the multi-captaincy theory that was mooted by Buchanan and sparked a debate in world cricket before Ganguly was replaced by Brendon McCullum as team captain for the previous season.

Whatmore, however, declined to elaborate on what he felt had been going wrong with the team over the last two years - apart from poor batting, there were reports of a rift between players and the team management - but said he would bank on his experience with the National Cricket Academy, of which he was director for the last two years, to spot new talent and act as a bridge between them and the team's top international players.

Asked where Kolkata would reach in the next IPL starting in March, he said: "Sometimes, I think it's good to have a goal like that, but other times I feel you don't want to limit yourself too much either. But as you saw, in IPL-2, the two teams that finished last and second-last respectively in the first edition ended up being the finalists (Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers Bangalore). So perhaps, hope is the right word to use now. But I would like to know that hope will become a different word as we go along. That can happen."

Kolkata zeroed in on Whatmore after meeting a number of candidates, including John Wright, Richard Pybus, Dermot Reeve, Duncan Fletcher, Lalchand Rajput, WV Raman and Ashok Malhotra. The team management had informally sounded out Whatmore in June and followed it up with an interview in August at the Mumbai residence of the actor Shah Rukh Khan, who co-owns the Kolkata franchise with businessman Jay Mehta.

Whatmore's presentation to the Kolkata management was titled 'Let's Turn It Around'. "I just want to be the one that helps them turn their fortunes around. It will be a genuine effort." Whatmore will begin his three-year stint with the team by attending the IPL workshop in Bangkok next week.

Whatmore, 55, played seven Tests for Australia and brings to the IPL an impressive record. Apart from the 1996 World Cup title for Sri Lanka, he guided Bangladesh to two historic wins in the 2007 World Cup against India and South Africa, and also coached Lancashire to title wins in the NatWest and Sunday League in 1998. Last year, he was coach of the India Under-19 team that won the junior World Cup in Malaysia.