Former Australian batter Justin Langer has been appointed as the new head coach of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Indian Premier League on Friday. Justin has replaced their head coach Andy Flower.
The news of the big change was announced by the franchise itself via an official statement. The statement read: “Lucknow Super Giants have appointed legendary former Australian cricket team coach and batsman Justin Langer as their team head coach. As the two-year contract of Andy Flower comes to an end, Lucknow Supergiants thanks Andy Flower for his contribution,”
This isn’t the first time Justin will do the head coach job. In fact, previously in 2018, Langer has served as the head coach of the Australian men’s team after the infamous sandpaper gate scandal that took the cricketing world by storm. However, he had resigned after Australia’s win at The Ashes 2021-2022 at home. Most recently, Flower had joined the Australian men’s team in a consultancy role ahead of the recently concluded ICC World Test Championship Final against the Indian cricket team at The Oval.
Meanwhile, Justin’s appointment as the head coach of the LSG will also mean that he will work with Gautam Gambhir during the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League. Interestingly, both the former players have been in good terms with each other since the year 2015.
Gautam Gambhir Suggested Justin Langer’s Name To LSG Owner
Gambhir began training under Langer’s supervision in June 2015 with the hope of making a return to the Indian cricket team. Gambhir was so impressed with Langer’s work in those 20 days of training that he wanted Langer to become the head coach of Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League. But Langer had politely refused Gambhir’s offer.
“I met JL [Justin Langer] during the last Champions League last year when he was touring with Perth Scorchers as their coach. We spoke about a few things, about my batting, and I realized that he could be my go-to man to work on my game,” Gambhir remarked in 2015 during an interaction with Hindustan Times.
Interestingly, it was Gautam Gambhir who suggested Langer’s name to the LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka. As per the reports floating around on social media, Dr. Sanjiv Goenka revealed that Langer’s name was suggested to him by Gambhir and he was very impressed with the former Australian batter. He said:
Dr Sanjiv Goenka: “His(Justin Langer) name was suggested to me by Gautam Gambhir and when I interacted with Justin I was very impressed.”
🗣️ Dr Sanjiv Goenka: "His(Justin Langer) name was suggested to me by Gautam Gambhir and when I interacted with Justin I was very impressed."#GazabAndaz #LSG #IPL2024
— SuperGiantsArmy™ — LSG FC (@LucknowIPLCover) July 14, 2023
Meanwhile, LSG has retained Mentor Gautam Gambhir, along with Bowling Coach Morne Morkel, Fielding Coach Jonty Rhodes, and Assistant Coach Vijay Dahiya.
