After being snubbed in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction, Kane Williamson  will don a new role as the strategic advisor of IPL team Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). The 35-year-old will replace bowling ace Zaheer Khan, who was the franchise's mentor for the IPL 2025 season, said a top official from the LSG team.
The New Zealand batter will join LSG for the upcoming IPL 2026 season. Notably, Williamson, who has not retired from international cricket but has opted not to take New Zealand's central contract to pursue playing global T20 franchise leagues. Besides hiring a new strategic advisor, LSG has also retained Justin Langer as the head coach. Carl Crowe is LSG's new spin bowling coach. Earlier, the former English cricketer served in the same role for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Notably, LSG, a couple of months ago, appointed Bharat Arun as the bowling coach.
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Kane's appointment as the strategic advisor is a very personal decision of RSPG Group Chairman  and LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka. The decision followed his meeting with a New Zealand player in London.
"Kane's strategic thinking and leadership played a pivotal role in New Zealand's performances in the World Cup and Champions Trophy. He has had an impeccable record as an individual, as a human being, and as a captain. I have always been impressed by his leadership qualities, calm demeanor, and ability to inspire players. After I had a meeting with him in London, Kane and head coach Justin Langer met, and then Kane and Rishabh Pant had a long discussion. Then we came to the conclusion that this is a very good choice," Goenka told TOI.
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Known for his astute leadership and exception cricketing acumen, Kane has had an incredible career with 9,276 runs in 105 Tests and 7,235 runs in 175 ODIs. He has also represented in IPL, playing for SRH and GT during the 2023 and 2024 seasons. According to LSG insiders, the move to appoint the 35-year-old had begun three months ago. The team owners, coach, captain, and others had several multiple rounds of discussions before coming to zero in on Williamson.
Sanjiv Goenka lavishes praise on Williamson, the leader
"I have interacted with Kane over several years; they have been small to begin with, but I have walked away with a great feeling about the human being, about the leader, about the player's person that he is, about his frankness, his openness, and the way he motivates players," Goenka said.
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"We want a fundamentally and very strategic think tank, along with coach Langer, bowling coach Bharat Arun, and spin bowling coach Carl Crowe. We do believe we will get that strength for the upcoming season," he said.
