Jonty Rhodes, Lucknow Super Giants’ (LSG) fielding coach, feels like the addition of Zaheer Khan as the team’s mentor will help the team in IPL 2025. The South African feels that the former fast bowler will bring a calm presence to the dressing room, which will aid them in getting closer to the trophy.
Jonty’s comments come a couple of days after LSG announced Zaheer as the replacement for Gautam Gambhir. After finishing 7th in IPL 2024 without a mentor, Lucknow have decided to reinforce its support staff by adding an experienced campaigner. Under Gambhir, LSG had made the Playoffs in IPL 2022 and 2023.
Zaheer Khan to relive some pressure
Jonty opened up about how LSG are now aiming to reach that elusive final after being knocked out of the eliminator twice and revealed how there is some extra pressure to get there. In this regard, he feels Zaheer Khan will be of big use to players.
“He brings a calm presence of mind. He can identify players who maybe just need a little bit of nudge and wink and say, ‘aaram se aaram se’. Don’t worry, it’s fine. Relax. Having someone like Zak around at team, selection and owner meetings is important. You need calm heads because the tournament goes up and down with the results. The team is no longer a brand-new franchise. Now it wants to achieve. We’ve got to the playoffs and haven’t yet got to the final. There’s going to be additional pressure on players and management. Having someone like Zak with his calm persona and his technical skills is great to have,” Jonty Rhodes told IANS.
