He played 145 IPL matches.
Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) all-rounder Shane Watson, who has also served Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Rajasthan Royals (RR), has joined the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as an assistant coach ahead of the IPL 2026 auction. It is the same role he played for Delhi Capitals (DC) under Ricky Ponting a few years ago.
As a player, Watson played 145 IPL matches in 12 years across three franchises, scoring 3874 runs at an average of 30.99 and a strike rate of 137.92, with 21 fifties and four centuries. Additionally, he snared 92 wickets at 29.15 runs apiece, including a four-wicket haul.
Since retirement from competitive cricket, Watson has seamlessly transitioned into the coaching role and has found ample success in a relatively fresh career. He has been the head coach of the San Francisco Unicorns in the Major League Cricket (MLC), taking them to the final in 2024 before the playoffs this year.
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He was also the head coach of the Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2024, helping them reach the playoffs for the first time in four attempts, but left the franchise ahead of this edition. Clearly, Watson’s credentials are high, which doesn’t surprise, given how good a white-ball player he was for Australia and other T20 leagues.
Kolkata Knight Riders have made a few notable changes to the coaching department ahead of the IPL 2026 auction, taking some bold calls. They parted ways with the head coach, Chandrakant Pandit, and appointed Abhishek Nayar in this role.
Nayar was previously their assistant coach in IPL 2025 after the end of his tenure with the BCCI. Now Shane Watson will be in the same role for KKR, following his announcement days before the IPL retention deadline.
“It’s a great honour to be part of a franchise as iconic as Kolkata Knight Riders. I’ve always admired the passion of KKR fans and the team’s commitment to excellence. I’m eager to work closely with the coaching group and players to help bring another title to Kolkata,” Watson said in the official release.
Earlier, Bharat Arun, who served as the bowling coach for four years, and Carl Crow, the spin consultant, left the KKR coaching staff to join Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the same roles. Meanwhile, Dwayne Bravo will continue as mentor of the Knight Riders ahead of the next season.
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