"VAN" (Sports Desk - 22.12.2025) :: After a successful TATA IPL Auction on December 16, we caught up with KKR’s recently appointed Assistant Coach Shane Watson to review the squad for 2026. The former Australian all-rounder also spoke about stepping into his new role with KKR, collaborating with the team’s support staff, and the strategic decisions behind players signed at the auction table, including Aussie Cameron Green and Finn Allen from New Zealand.
Q1: Tell us how you feel joining KKR as Assistant Coach for the upcoming TATA IPL 2026
Shane Watson: To be honest, I’ve been overwhelmed by the response (from KKR fans) since the official announcement was made last month. As a player, I never had the chance to represent this great franchise, but I have always heard incredible things about KKR - from the ownership to the support network to the fans. Brett Lee, one of my best mates, has spent many years at KKR. I’ve had many other friends who speak very highly of their time playing for this franchise. To now have the opportunity to work here (as assistant coach), and help the squad be at their very best during the IPL, is incredibly exciting. I’m stoked to be able to work with Abhishek Nayar, who I played with for a couple of seasons at Rajasthan Royals back in the days, and also to be able to work with my good mate Dwayne Bravo, who I’ve had a lot of good, fun times on and off the field as well. I’ve also played with Tim Southee at RR. So, I just know it's going to be a lot of fun.
The Knight Riders are a very successful franchise, so there are high expectations from everyone, as there should be. I’m really looking forward to contributing towards an environment at KKR that’s built on success.
Q2: So there is clearly a familiarity with the coaching group you’re going to be working with. What about our latest entrant - Andre Russell, the Power Coach?
Shane Watson: I’ve always enjoyed playing against Andre Russell, and I was fortunate to play alongside him at Sydney Thunder when we won the BBL back in 2016. He’s one of the best T20 players the game has ever seen. As a power coach, his understanding of how to generate power is second to none, and his intel will be invaluable. I know he’ll help players across the squad continue to develop and elevate their power games.
Q3: You were involved in a lot of discussions with the Think Tank in the weeks leading up to the auction. Tell us a little bit about that.
Shane Watson: Even though I’ve been a part of 13 editions of the IPL as a player, and assistant coach at DC for a couple of years, this was actually the first time where I was deeply involved in the planning, and joined live on a virtual call with the table during the auction in Abu Dhabi. I absolutely loved the experience. The conversations with Venky Mysore and the KKR ownership were robust, detailed, and very clear in terms of how we wanted to build the squad.
It did take a lot of courage for the ownership and leadership of KKR to be able to make the call to release Venkatesh Iyer and also Dre Russ, to be able to ensure that we had the best chance of being able to build a really, really formidable squad that didn't have any weaknesses. The two players, Venkatesh and Russell, have had a lot of great games and a lot of success with KKR. So it took a lot of courage to be able to just put that bigger picture forward. With the strategies and all the conversations we’ve had, we knew we set ourselves up for success in the auction. And that's all you can do in life - to know that you've done all the work to be able to give yourself the best chance of getting the best result possible. That was my experience, and then for it to turn out the way it did, there was no surprise.
Q4: What were your thoughts on KKR securing a winning bid for Cameron Green - the most talked about player at this year’s auction?
Shane Watson: I'm going to initially talk from my selfish point of view, okay? I've always been a massive fan of Cameron Green. I'm an all-rounder at heart, so I know what it takes to push the limits to be the best all-rounder that you possibly can be. And I've always absolutely loved everything about Cameron Green - the way he goes about his skill set as a batter, and his incredible skill set as a bowler as well.
He's got incredible height, he's got incredible skill, and I've been wanting to have a chance to be able to work with him really closely. I've had a number of conversations with him over the years, to be able to just help him wherever he needs it. But I haven't had a chance to be able to work with him in a team and help him on his journey to be the very best that he possibly can be. Now, because of KKR, I get a chance to be able to work with him and pass on my knowledge that I was so fortunate to be able to gain throughout my playing days, playing with so many incredible players.
From a KKR perspective, to be able to have someone who can bat in the top three, (he has scored IPL hundreds in those positions) or if needed, he also can bat at six and seven and power hit - he's an incredible power hitter. That makes him incredibly versatile. He is also a world-class fast bowler. He's tall, he gets bounce, and he's also got more to be able to grow from a bowling perspective.
He's got Dwayne Bravo, and also Andre Russell to work with, along with myself, to develop his T20 bowling skills. He’s a super nice guy, he's a great team man, so look, you can see why the bids went up so high for him. We were adamant to be able to get him, because we knew the calibre of cricketer he is, and he's a young guy too. He's 26, so he's got a lot of years of IPL cricket left in him.
I'm so stoked to be able to have a chance to work with him, we’ve certainly got a world-class cricketer who is only, in my opinion, going to get better with time.
Q5: Tell us about Finn Allen. You’ve worked with him before. What was the rationale behind getting him into the KKR squad?
Shane Watson: Finn Allen is really starting to realise just how good he is. His skillsets are unique and rare. I worked with him for three years at the San Francisco Unicorns (in Major League Cricket, USA), and I believe he hasn't reached his ceiling yet. He's nowhere near reaching his ceiling, and he's already done some pretty spectacular things on the cricket field so far. I was pretty vocal about how good he was and how big a pick he could be for us, because in the IPL he's been an unknown entity. He hasn't played much, even though he was at RCB for a couple of seasons.
But my gosh, knowing he will be batting at Eden Gardens, and the immense power that he's got and his ability to be able to play all different types of bowling as well… He's not just a flat track bully that stands there when the ball's not moving and smashes him. He can take down the best bowlers in the world and has done that throughout his career.
I'm so excited to be able to work with him again, and to be able to continue to help him on his journey. I know the rest of the leadership group at KKR are feeling the exact same way as well, knowing the incredible skill that Finn's got.
Q6: In this year’s TATA IPL Auction, we saw massive bidding wars not just for foreign players, but for young domestic talent as well. Tell us how you feel about some of our local recruits at the auction.
Shane Watson: I’ll say this straight away, I think Abhishek Nayar knows just about every cricketer on the planet. His understanding of Indian domestic players, their stats, where they’re at, what they’ve been doing recently, the depth of his intel - it’s extraordinary. I’m not sure I’ve come across anyone with that level of knowledge across Indian cricket.
Going into the auction, I had complete confidence that even if we missed out on any domestic player we were targeting, Abhishek would already have had two or three alternatives lined up, with clear insight into their strengths. He was regularly sending me videos, breaking down each player’s performances across every possible scenario. That level of preparation gave us enormous confidence. Leaning on Abhishek's intel, we just knew things were going to work out well for us in the auction. When you have someone like Abhishek leading that process, you know you’re always going to build a squad filled with some serious domestic talent and quality.
Q7: What is the one message you would like to give to KKR fans as we build up to the TATA IPL 2026?
Shane Watson: I’m incredibly excited to be coming to Kolkata and becoming part of the KKR family. Even from afar, it’s always been clear how passionate and loyal the fan base is. What I can say with confidence is that we’ve built a squad with outstanding balance, depth, and match-winners right throughout, not just in the playing XI, but across the entire group.
The expectations should be high, because my expectations are certainly high after the auction we’ve had. I can’t wait to get started, to contribute in any way I can, and to help the players and the environment be the very best they can be. With the firepower and quality we have, the fans have every reason to be excited about the season ahead.
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