Former Australia Test opener Justin Langer has been named as the new head coach of the Lucknow Super Giants franchise which is led by star India batter KL Rahul. Langer, who has coached Australia's men side for a long time, will be the head coach of the Lucknow Super Giants from IPL 2024. On joining LSG as head coach, Justin Langer said, “Lucknow Super Giants are on the journey of building a great story in the IPL. We all have a role to play in that journey and I am excited to be a part of the team moving forward.”
Langer has never held a coaching role in the IPL but has a rich pedigree as a coach in T20 cricket, having helmed Perth Scorchers to three Big Bash League titles. He was also the head coach when Australia won the T20 World Cup for the first time in 2021 in the UAE. He resigned as Australia's head coach early in 2022 after rejecting a short-term extension offer.He has previously worked with Gautam Gambhir, Super Giants' director of cricket, when Gambhir was trying to resurrect his international career in 2015. A casual chat on the sidelines of the now-defunct Champions League T20 in 2014, where Gambhir was captaining Kolkata Knight Riders and Langer coaching Scorchers, turned into a one-on-one mentorship a year later. Gambhir spent a fortnight in Perth then to work on some technical issues and mental toughness through mixed martial arts and gymnastics.
After the stint, Langer stated that he was "impressed with Gambhir's desire" to work on his game at that stage in his career, after having led Knight Riders to the IPL title twice apart from having played a key role in two world titles with India - the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 ODI World Cup.Flower, who worked closely with Gambhir, had a good run with the franchise that finished in the playoffs in both their seasons. In 2022, their first season in the IPL, Super Giants finished third, and in IPL 2023, they were knocked out in the Eliminator.
