MUMBAI: Even as a stony silence from the powers that be in the BCCI on “l’affaire CVC’s winning bid for the new Ahmedabad tean in the Indian Premier League has carried over into the new year, the other new franchise from Lucknow has debuted on Twitter.
While the Lucknow IPL team has already confirmed the arrival of Andy Flower as the head coach and former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir as mentor of the side, the Ahmedabad franchise has also reportedly selected their backroom staff ahead of the new season. The Ahmedabad team has reportedly roped in former India fast bowler Ashish Nehra as head coach and former India coach Gary Kirsten as mentor of the team. Former England batter Vikram Solanki is reportedly set to be the ‘Director of Cricket’ and will also serve as the batting coach of the team.
“As far as I have heard, they have signed Ashish as their head coach and someone who would be in overall charge of the franchise. Solanki will be the ‘Director of Cricket’ and also expected to double up as batting coach and Kirsten will be in a mentorship role,” a senior IPL source was quoted as saying by PTI.
Meanwhile, the Lucknow IPL team took a big step on social media, debuting on Twitter and Instagram. Currently named Official Lucknow IPL team, going by the handle @TeamLucknowIPL received a warm welcome by reportedly gathering over 20,000 followers on the first day. The handle tweeted a few updates related to Andy Flower and Gambhir and posted a tweet that read: “Welcome to the official Twitter profile of Lucknow IPL team.”
