IPL 2024 champions Kolkata Knight Riders are searching for a team mentor for the upcoming season. Gautam Gambhir⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, as mentor, played a pivotal role in KKR's massive success last season, but he got a dream job offer for the Indian team's head coach position and left the franchise after one year. His exit left a big gap to fill in KKR's coaching staff as Gambhir also took Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate alongside him as part of the Indian team's coaching staff.

The defending champions have started their search to replace Gambhir, and a report on Sangbad Pratidin suggested that former KKR all-rounder Jacques Kallis is one of the front-runners to get the job. Kallis had a past with KKR as he was part of their 2012 and 2014 IPL-winning sides under Gambhir's leadership.

He was also part of KKR's coaching staff in the past. In 2015, he was appointed their batting consultant and, a year later, named their head coach after Trevor Baylis' exit. They are looking to re-appoint the Proteas legend in the coaching staff to assist head coach Chandrakant Pandit.

The other two contenders for the big position at KKR are Australian great Ricky Ponting and legendary Sri Lanka wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara. Ponting recently parted ways with Delhi Capitals, while Rahul Dravid replaced Sangakkara as Rajasthan Royals' new head coach. Meanwhile, Sangakkara is expected to stay at the Royals as a Director of Operations, which leaves KKR with two options: Ponting and Kallis.

BCCI yet to announce players' retention policy

The three-time IPL champions will look to finalise their coaching staff before the mega IPL auction. However, the BCCI has yet to announce the player retention policy, as several reports suggested that the IPL franchises are not on the same page regarding the number of retentions ahead of the auction.

The BCCI held a meeting with the IPL team owners last month, where the franchise's opinions were divided on issues ranging from the mega auction to the impact of the substitute player rule.

Teams are not likely to be allowed to retain more than five players with one Right to Match (RTM) card. The RTM card gives a franchise the opportunity to match the final bid of a player from their squad of the previous season.

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