New Delhi [India], August 25 : ILT20 outfit Gulf Giants have roped in former England top-order batter Jonathan Trott as head coach and ex-New Zealand tearaway Shane Bond as bowling coach for the upcoming season, replacing Andy Flower and Ottis Gibson, respectively.
Apart from serving as Afghanistan's head coach, Trott was associated with the SA20 franchise Pretoria Capitals in the same position. On Sunday afternoon, Pretoria Capitals confirmed that former India captain Sourav Ganguly replaced Trott. In the last season, Trott struggled to conjure up the winning formula for the Capitals and saw his side finish second from bottom in the group stage.
In less than 24 hours, the former English batter announced his new journey with the Gulf Giants. On the other hand, Bond was recently associated with the Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals in the cash-rich Indian Premier League and Paarl Royals in SA20.
"The Gulf Giants have quickly become one of the ILT20's most successful teams. My goal is to empower players to excel and help shape a championship-winning squad through the first-ever ILT20 auction," Trott said in a statement as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
The ILT20 auction is scheduled to be held on September 30 in Dubai. The fourth season of the tournament will run from December 2, 2025, to January 4, 2026.
"The team's ambition is clear. I'm excited to sharpen our bowling attack and make a decisive impact this season," Bond said.
The revamped backroom staff of the Gulf Giants also features Andrew Puttick as batting coach, Jim Troughton as fielding coach and Nick Lee as fitness coach.
As of now, the Giants squad consists of James Vince, Aayan Khan, Mark Adair, Blessing Muzarabani and Gerhard Erasmus as their retained players. Their brand new acquisitions consist of Moeen Ali, Azmatullah Omarzai and Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
The Gulf Giants stood triumphant in the inaugural edition of ILT20 in 2023, got eliminated in Qualifier 2 in 2024, and hit rock bottom after finishing second from bottom earlier this year.