Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have added a former West Indies head coach to their coaching staff ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2025), which is set to begin on March 22. On Saturday, March 8, the defending champions appointed Ottis Gibson as their assistant coach for the upcoming season.
Gibson brings valuable experience to the Knight Riders. He coached the West Indies from 2010 to 2014 and helped the team clinch the 2012 T20 World Cup. The 55-year-old will work head coach Chandrakant Pandit, mentor Dwayne Bravo, bowling coach Bharat Arun, and spin-bowling coach Carl Crowe.
Kolkata Knight Riders Announce Ottis Gibson as Assistant Coach for IPL 2025
Kolkata Knight Riders officially announced the appointment of Ottis Gibson as their new assistant coach. KKR took to their official social media account to welcome Gibson to their coaching staff.
“Welcoming our Assistant Coach, Ottis Gibson. Ottis joins our strong support staff unit, comprising mentor Dwayne Bravo, head coach Chandrakant Pandit, bowling coach Bharat Arun, spin-bowling coach Carl Crowe and others,” KKR tweeted.
Ottis Gibson also served as England’s bowling coach in two separate stints (2007-2010 and 2015-2017). He was also the head coach of South Africa (2017-2019) and has coached in various T20 franchises. Gibson represented the West Indies in 15 ODIs and two Tests between 1995 and 1999.
Gibson also had short stints with the Bangladesh national team and the Yorkshire County side, apart from mentoring several T20 franchises.
Defending Champions Name Ajinkya Rahane as Skipper for IPL 2025 Season
The defending champions will have a revamped coaching staff for the upcoming IPL season. Gautam Gambhir, who was the mentor of the Knight Riders in 2024, became Team India’s head coach. Assistant coaches Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate also joined Gambhir in the coaching setup.
KKR will also have a new captain for the IPL 2025 season. Ajinkya Rahane has been appointed as the skipper, and Venkatesh Iyer has been named as his deputy. Rahane led the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiants and Rajasthan Royals. However, the 36-year-old has not captained an IPL side since 2019.
Defending Champions Set to Commence IPL 2025 Campaign in Season Opener
Shreyas Iyer captained KKR to their third IPL title last year. However, the franchise did not retain him and didn’t buy him back during the mega auction in December.
KKR retained most of their core players from the winning squad, including Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana, and Ramandeep Singh. They purchased Venkatesh Iyer for ₹23.75 at the auction and signed Ajinkya Rahane at his base price of ₹1.5 crore.
The Kolkata-based franchise will kick off their IPL 2025 campaign with the season opener against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on March 22 at Eden Gardens. KKR will be aiming to defend their title in the tournament.
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