Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) are set to part ways with mentor Zaheer Khan ahead of the next Indian Premier League (IPL 2026) season. According to reports, the new mentor is set to assume greater responsibilities in RSPG Group's other franchises across the globe. The former Indian pacer, who was signed for a two-year deal with LSG, failed to have the required impact in this year's IPL 2025 season.
According to the TOI report, LSG's owner Sanjiv Goenka, who currently is in London overseeing The Hundred as owner of Manchester Originals, is set to announce a team Director of Cricket, who will oversee the year-around development of LSG's other franchises - Durban SuperGinats, & Manchester Originals in the Hundred. Notably, Zaheer stepped into the mentor role as a replacement for now India coach Gautam Gambhir, who quit LSG's mentor role for KKR's coaching role after the 2024 IPL season.
Gambhir instantly proved his worth for the franchise he captained as KKR went onto win their third IPL title in the IPL 2024 season. However, the Indian coach's offer soon followed the former KKR captain, and he had quit the KKR coaching role as well.
Zaheer Khan's underwhelming returns in the IPL 2025 season led to his downfall during LSG stint
For the unversed, Zaheer stepped into a mentoring role for LSG this IPL 2025 as a replacement for Gambhir after IPL 2023 season. The former Indian pacer was also filling in as a replacement for former bowling coach Morne Morkel, who quit owing to his role as bowling coach of the national team. In this IPL 2025 for LSG, Zaheer mentored a relatively inexperienced all-Indian bowling attack. While in a few matches the bowlers performed exceedingly well, in the rest of the games, their inexperience showed.
Also Read: IPL 2026: “Writing Was On The Wall” - Robin Uthappa On Sanju Samson’s Move To Leave Rajasthan Royals
LSG crashed out of IPL season without qualifying for the playoffs for the IPL 2025 season. This is the second consecutive time LSG failed to qualify for the knockout stages after qualifying in two seasons - IPL 2022 & 23.
