KKR appoints Shane Watson as Abhishek Nayar’s assistant coach for IPL 2026

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have announced the arrival of Shane Watson as their new ‘assistant coach’ ahead of the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. This is just a major overhaul that the three-time IPL champions are making ahead of the start of IPL 2026. With the retention deadline set for November 15, this is a huge development for KKR, who recently appointed their ‘head coach » to Abhishek Nayar too.

Watson’s association began from the inaugural season, where he won the trophy with Rajasthan Royals (RR). He became the Player of the Tournament that year and repeated the feat in 2013. He also won the IPL 2018 with CSK, for whom he hammered a century in the final.

Watson-Nayar will make KKR great again

Nayar replaced Chandrakant Pandit, who joined the team in 2022 and won IPL 2024 alongside Gautam Gambhir, who was the mentor at the time and Shreyas Iyer, who was the captain. Having failed to qualify for the playoffs in three of the last four seasons, Kolkata was desperate for a course correction.

Speaking about the announcement, Venky Mysore, CEO, Kolkata Knight Riders said, “We are delighted to welcome Shane Watson to the KKR family. His experience as a player and coach at the highest level will add immense value to the culture and preparation of our team. His understanding of the T20 format is world-class and we look forward to his contributions on and off the field..”

Now, with Watson joining forces with Nayar, KKR have two young coaches who can instill a great T20 mindset among the players. They have all the talents in the team, ranging from Indians Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana to foreign stars like Andre Russell and Sunil Narine. The key would be handling the Venkatesh Iyer situation, who has a huge paycheck of Rs 23.75, an amount that can make or break KKR’s IPL 2026 bid.

Watson expressed his excitement about joining KKR, saying: “It is a great honor to be a part of such an iconic franchise like Kolkata Knight Riders. I have always admired the passion of KKR fans and the team’s commitment to excellence. I look forward to working closely with the coaching group and players to help bring another title to Kolkata..”