KKR appoints West Indian Ottis Gibson as assistant coach ahead of IPL

Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Saturday announced the experienced West Indian Ottis Gibson as their assistant coach ahead of the Indian Premier League season starting on March 22.

A former fast bowler from Barbados himself, with over 650 first-class wickets to his name, the 55-year-old Gibson represented West Indies in both Tests and ODIs from 1995-1999 before embarking on his journey as a coach.

He comes with extensive experience, having had two stints as bowling coach of the England Cricket Team -- from 2007-10 and again from 2015-17.

He also served as head coach of the West Indies from 2010-14. During his tenure, the team won its first ICC World T20 title in 2012 in Sri Lanka. He went on to become head coach of the South African team from 2017-2019, and has since held several coaching positions across the T20 franchise circuit.

Gibson joins a strong support staff unit at KKR, comprising mentor Dwayne Bravo, head coach Chandrakant Pandit, bowling coach Bharat Arun, spin-bowling coach Carl Crowe and others.