Overseas players were frustrated by KKR coach Pandit’s ‘militant style’ of coaching in IPL 2023, says Namibia’s Wiese

New Delhi: Namibia’s fast-bowling all-rounder David Wiese, who was a part of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 2023, has claimed that some overseas players were frustrated over head coach Chandrakant Pandit’s militant style of coaching in the tournament. In that season, KKR finished in seventh place in the points table and failed to enter the knockouts.

“Certain issues were going on behind the scenes in the team. Guys weren’t happy with certain things that were going on, and a lot of the time, it was a tough changing room. There was a new coach coming in, and he liked to do things a certain way, but that didn’t sit well with the players.”

“It caused a little bit of tension in the changing room. Guys were frustrated, there was a lot that changed over the last couple of years (when McCullum was around), and the new coach brought in some new things that he thought would bring success to us. He (Pandit) is known in India as a very militant type of coach. He is very strict, very disciplinarian that type of stuff.”

“Sometimes in franchise cricket, when you have overseas guys, who’ve played all over the world, they don’t need anyone coming and telling them how they need to behave, what they need to wear, and what they need to do the whole time. I was chill with it, but there were players more stubborn than me. So, that was tough,” said Wiese in an episode of ‘Hitman for Hire: A Year in the Life of a Franchise Cricketer’ podcast.

Wiese, who made three IPL appearances for KKR in IPL 2023, the same year when Pandit was brought on as the head coach following Brendon McCullum’s departure, admitted to being frustrated over not getting enough chances to be in the playing eleven in that season.

“That frustration was more because of the fact that I played those games. I didn’t really get the opportunity to do much. I did hit a couple of sixes but didn’t really get the opportunity to showcase my skills there, and never got picked again in the team that was struggling with players.”

“I think if I hadn’t played a single game, it would’ve been fine but the fact that I played three games, had a taste, did relatively well, and then didn’t get another chance in a team that is struggling, that was the more frustrating part.”

Wiese signed off by expressing discomfort over cake smash celebrations happening in the tournament, whenever a player’s birthday came.

“In India, the tradition is like that you cut the cake and then somebody feeds it to you and then you feed it to everybody else. Then somewhere through that, they’ll put a little smudge on your face and then some guy decided, it’s going to be funny just smash cake in your face.”

“It’s such a nice cake, why go out and make a nice cake then smash it all over the face; it’s almost inedible and really annoying. They felt that I wasn’t too keen on it so they came to me and said, ‘It’s your birthday, there’s a cake waiting for you, do you want (it) to (be) smashed in your face or you don’t want to be that guy’.”

“I said ‘Do what you’ve got to do, just keep it out of my hair’. I took the cake in my ear…(they) took a piece and shoved it in my ear. It’s such a stupid tradition, but it is what it is.”

–IANS