Pakistan captain Wasim Akram, inarguably the most gifted left-arm quick of all time, is in the frame to take John Buchanan’s place in the Kolkata Knight Riders’ set-up. The good rapport between Akram and KKR captain Sourav Ganguly may well seal the deal for him. This process, which includes a presentation, is to be completed by the end of this week. Sourav Ganguly who is tipped to regain the captaincy next season, may be present at the meeting. Akram is part of the final few coaches who have been called on August 30.
India's former coach John Wright was the frontrunner to succeed Buchanan, who’d been the franchise’s head of cricket operations until his sacking two months ago. However, impressive presentations by Richard Pybus and Duncan Fletcher have opened up the race somewhat. Others who may be interviewed for the post include former Aussie all-rounder Michael Bevan and former Indian wicket-keeper Praveen Amre. Former Indian batsmen WV Raman, Ashok Malhotra and Lalchand Rajput made their presentations in front of principal owner Shah Rukh Khan and Ganguly last week.
Akram's candidature, however, is not expected to carry much weight because, the former Pakistani legend would essentially be a bowling coach and Akram himself is less keen on a full-time coach's job and would like to work as a consultant. Also, Wasim Akram has prior media commitments with ESPN-Star Sports.
