File photo of MS Dhoni and Steve Smith© BCCI/Sportzpics
The Lucknow Super Giants are preparing for a fresh hunt for the Indian Premier League (IPL) title, and many changes are expected in the team at the mega auction. While it isn't yet known if skipper KL Rahul will continue to lead the team, a big change has already been brought in by the bosses, with Zaheer Khan coming into the side as a mentor. LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka, who recently introduced Zaheer as the team's mentor, spoke of the need to have an Indian mind in the support staff to get the best out of the players, hence the legendary pacer was signed.
"Last year, I felt that an Indian mind, you can call him a mentor or anything, who has that fierce desire to win, was lacking a bit. Zaheer, even when he was a player, he was very determined to win. That was his only aim. I want that," he told Sports Tak.
Goenka had the services of Gautam Gambhir till the IPL 2023 season before he decided to join Kolkata Knight Riders in 2024, and is now the head coach of the Indian national cricket team.
"I am not satisfied if someone comes and tells me we played badly today. Then, repeats the same thing the next two days. So I will ask him, 'why?' One player can be off-form, but XI players cannot be off-form every day. The decision-making role that Zaheer can play. The role that Gautam played was lacking last season. So my expectation from Zaheer is to work on that decision-making," he said.
However, Goenka also stressed the need to have experienced people in the team, suggesting that it was the lack of it which cost his team an IPL title during the Rising Pune Supergiants days.
"The Super Giants family has been in the IPL for five years. Two of those were with Pune, and three were with Lucknow. When we reached the finals with Pune, it was a new and inexperienced team. You leave out Steve Smith and MS Dhoni, we didn't have much experience in the team," he said.
"We were about to win the final, but due to our lack of experience, we lost. So making the right calls in those crunch moments is key."