Former Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak has been appointed as the bowling coach of two-time Indian Premier League (IPL) winning team Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), if reports in CricTracker are to be believed. Streak will join head coach Jacques Kallis and assistant coach Simon Katich as KKR’s backroom staff from this year. KKR recently appointed Dinesh Karthik as their new captain after Gautam Gambhir was roped in by Delhi Daredevils (DD) in the IPL 2018 auction. Incidentally, Streak and Karthik worked together for 2 years at Gujarat Lions (GL) when the former was the bowling coach of the now extinct IPL franchise.
Streak will replace Lakshmipathy Balaji, who was earlier appointed bowling coach of the returning Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Balaji has represented both CSK and KKR as a player in the IPL.
Streak has played 65 Tests and 189 ODIs for Zimbabwe between 1993 to 2005. He has close to 5,000 international runs and more than 450 international wickets to his name. He is also the coach of the Zimbabwe national team, who are currently playing in the ICC World Cup qualifiers at home. Streak last played competitive cricket over a decade ago, when he represented English County Warwickshire at the First-Class and T20 level.
The 11th edition of the IPL is scheduled to kick start from April 7. The first match will take place between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Mumbai Indians are the most successful team in the IPL, having won three titles, while CSK, who are returning from a two-year ban have won a couple of titles from their eight seasons in the tournament.
