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August 28, 2024
Zaheer Khan is set to join the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) as their new mentor, following Gautam Gambhir’s departure after the IPL 2023 season. Gambhir has since moved to the Kolkata Knight Riders as a mentor for IPL 2024 and is now the head coach of the Indian men’s team.
It’s not clear yet if Zaheer will also take on the role of LSG’s bowling coach, a position that was recently vacated when Morne Morkel joined Gambhir’s coaching staff with the Indian team.
From 2018 to 2022, Zaheer Khan worked with the Mumbai Indians (MI) as the director of cricket and later as head of global development. Before that, he played for three IPL teams: MI, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Delhi Daredevils. Over ten IPL seasons, Zaheer played 100 matches and took 102 wickets at an economy rate of 7.58. He last played in the IPL in 2017, leading the Daredevils before retiring from cricket.
According to thewicketinsider, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) are not only hiring Zaheer Khan as their mentor but also planning to give him a broader role. This expanded role will involve scouting and player development during the off-season.
Currently, LSG’s coaching team is led by Justin Langer, who took over from Andy Flower as head coach for IPL 2024. Lance Klusener and Adam Voges are his assistants. After making the playoffs in their first two seasons, LSG narrowly missed the top four in 2024 due to net run rate.
Zaheer’s potential return to the IPL comes as teams prepare for a major auction, with the IPL expected to announce the retention rules by early September.
Find out about the draft order, prices, retention picks and availability issues
On September 1, the WBBL and BBL drafts will take place. The WBBL draft starts at 3 PM AEST, and it will be followed immediately by the BBL draft.
A weighted lottery determined the draft order a few months ago, based on last season’s standings.
For the WBBL, the Hobart Hurricanes have the first pick, while the Perth Scorchers have the eighth pick. In the BBL, the Melbourne Stars have the first pick, and the Sydney Sixers have the eighth pick.
The drafts consist of four rounds:
In the BBL, Adelaide Strikers and Sydney Thunder have swapped their second-round picks due to Wes Agar’s transfer to the Thunder. As a result, Strikers will pick 11th, and Thunder will pick 13th in that round. In the WBBL, the Strikers have traded picks 19 and 30 to the Melbourne Renegades, receiving picks 22 and 27 in return.
For the third round (Gold and Silver), the order is reversed, so in the WBBL, the Scorchers will have consecutive picks at 16 and 17, and in the BBL, the Sixers will have the same.
Round 1 Draft Orders:
Each team must draft at least two overseas players in addition to their pre-signed players. They can skip drafting in one round if needed. This season, teams can sign one player before the draft and offer them multi-year deals if they choose. All teams have already used this option.
During the draft, teams will need to assign their pre-signed overseas players to specific rounds based on their contract value. Most pre-signed players will be in the Platinum category, the highest-paid tier, but not all. For example, the Melbourne Renegades have confirmed that Tim Seifert won’t be a Platinum pick. In the WBBL, Brisbane Heat allrounder Nadine de Klerk will be in a lower tier.
Teams can draft a fourth overseas player if they want, but this player will be considered a replacement. Only three overseas players can be in the playing XI. Replacement players can also be signed after the draft, but they must be from the pool of nominated players unless the tournament technical committee approves an exception, as was the case with Nat Sciver-Brunt last season.
Adelaide Strikers: Smriti Mandhana, Ollie Pope
Brisbane Heat: Nadine de Klerk, Colin Munro
Hobart Hurricanes: Lizelle Lee, Chris Jordan
Melbourne Renegades: Hayley Matthews, Tim Seifert
Melbourne Stars: Marizanne Kapp, Tom Curran
Perth Scorchers: Sophie Devine, Finn Allen
Sydney Sixers: Amelia Kerr, Akeal Hosein
Sydney Thunder: Chamari Athapaththu, Sam Billings
There are four price bands. These figures are in Australian dollars.
WBBL
Platinum: $110,000 (depending on availability)
Gold: $90,000
Silver: $65,000
Bronze: up to $40,000
BBL
Platinum: $360,000-$420,000 (depending on availability)
Gold: $300,000
Silver: $200,000
Bronze: up to $100,000
Each team is allowed one retention pick. Typically, this means they can keep a player who played for them last season. However, there are other ways players can qualify for retention. For example, if a player was signed last year but didn’t play, like Sophie Ecclestone at the Sixers, they can still be retained this season.
When a team decides which round their pre-signed player will be placed in, that counts as their pick for that round. This means they cannot use their retention pick for that player as well.
Both competitions have now been reduced to 40-game regular seasons, with the WBBL’s new structure coming into effect this year after the BBL in 2023-24. There’s more of a squeeze on the WBBL this year while the BBL faces its usual headwinds from rival T20 leagues (SA20 and ILT20) and international cricket.
The WBBL starts just seven days after the T20 World Cup finishes. There’s also various bilateral cricket at either end of the competition. India are due to play New Zealand straight after the World Cup while South Africa face England, which overlaps with the finals. England players selected for that tour will leave the WBBL but some South Africans, including Marizanne Kapp, will be available throughout and miss the T20Is.
In the BBL, it’s even more of jigsaw puzzle although most of the pre-signed players have committed to a full season including the finals (that is a requirement for the 2025-26 season onwards, but optional for this one). Last season’s finals were decimated by an exodus of players to the UAE. However, some that are signed in the draft itself will again likely leave early with a host of them stating availability of six to nine games.
The fixture congestion has been amplified for this season because the ILT20 has moved forward to make room for the Champions Trophy in February and will start on January 11, two days after the SA20 starts.
The WBBL will take place from October 27 to December 1, while the BBL will run from December 15 to January 27.
Katarzyna Nowak is a seasoned writer with over five years of experience in editorial content, news reporting, and cricket sportsbook app reviews. As an author for The Wicket Insider, she combines her deep understanding of the sports betting industry with a passion for cricket, delivering insightful and accurate content that keeps readers informed and engaged.
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