Former Australian batsman and head coach Justin Langer is all set to start a new task in his coaching career in the Indian Premier League after North Indian team Lucknow Super Giants roped him in to become their new coach. in chief ahead of IPL 2024.
In a recent interview with LSG, Langer revealed the real conversation that took place between him and LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka in their first meeting regarding the vacant head coach position. The Australian stated that he was absolutely moved to meet Goenka and called him a great salesman for how he convinced him to take on the head coaching role.
Justin Langer got his first taste of what it’s like to be part of an IPL team during the IPL 2024 mini auction on December 19 at the Coca-Cola Stadium in Dubai. Before the auction, he told the press how excited he was to be part of the best cricket league in the world and that he couldn’t wait to get started.
The onus will be on him and his tactics as Lucknow Super Giants will look to win the tournament in their third season since entering the league in 2022. Over the last two seasons, LSG have remained consistent in their quest, finishing third in the league standings. but they have not been able to reach the final.
With most of the core LSG team retained, Justin Langer and co. bought 4 local players along with 2 foreign signings: Ashton Turner and David Willey. His most expensive purchase was Indian pacer Shivam Mavi, which came at a price of Rs 6.40 crore, while they bought the next 5 players at their base price. It was a pretty decent and effective auction, but they will be tested when IPL 2024 begins from March.
“You can’t be the best if you don’t win the IPL”, Justin Langer revisits first interaction with Sanjiv Goenka
Justin Langer took over as head coach of the Australian team in 2018 after the sandpaper door. His first achievement was helping Australia retain the Ashes series for the first time in 18 years. He won his first major ICC title as a coach in 2021 as the Baggy Greens completed the white-ball team by winning the ICC T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
But none of his achievements can surpass the essence of winning the Indian Premier League. This is what Sanjiv Goenka said in his proposal to Justin Langer to accept the position of LSG head coach.
“I received a text message asking if I was interested in coaching in the IPL. It was Vinay who told me that the owner Sanjiv was in London at the same time and that I would be interested in having a coffee with him.” – said Langer.
He’s a very good salesman, the boss, because the last thing he said was, you know, Justin, you’ve had a great career as a player, you’ve had a very, very good career as a coach, but you can’t consider yourself a great coach until you’ve won. the IPL.” – concluded Justin Langer.