Ryan ten Doeschate has returned to the Knight Riders setup, with Knight Riders Sports appointing the former Netherlands international as its Head of Cricket Strategy, a role that will see him oversee cricket operations across the franchise's global teams.
According to the franchise, ten Doeschate will be responsible for shaping cricket strategy, talent identification and player development across the Knight Riders network. His responsibilities will include leading scouting, player recruitment, squad planning and performance evaluation while working closely with coaching staff to build a consistent cricketing philosophy across all Knight Riders franchises.
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As part of the new role, he will also serve as assistant coach for Trinbago Knight Riders in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in the International League T20 (ILT20) and Los Angeles Knight Riders in Major League Cricket (MLC).
Welcoming his return, Venky Mysore, CEO of Knight Riders Sports, said, "We are delighted to welcome Tendo back to the Knight Riders family. His deep understanding of our philosophy, combined with his experience across franchise and international cricket, makes him ideally suited for this role. He will help shape the next phase of growth across the Knight Riders ecosystem."
Speaking on his appointment, ten Doeschate said, "I'm excited to be back with the Knight Riders in this role. This is a unique opportunity to work with the coaching & analytics teams across our global franchises to strengthen our scouting/player development systems, and to build a long-term cricket strategy."
Ten Doeschate first joined Kolkata Knight Riders as a player in 2011 and was part of the franchise's IPL title-winning campaigns in 2012 and 2014. He later returned to the team's coaching staff in 2022 and was also part of the support group during KKR's third IPL title triumph in 2024.
The appointment comes shortly after ten Doeschate stepped down as India's men's assistant coach following the conclusion of the white-ball tour of England, according to ESPNcricinfo.
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The former Netherlands captain reportedly informed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) of his decision during the tour, where India lost both the T20I and ODI series against England, going down 4-0 in the T20Is and 2-1 in the ODIs.
Ten Doeschate joined India's coaching staff after Gautam Gambhir took over as head coach following Rahul Dravid's departure after India's successful 2024 T20 World Cup campaign. Handpicked by Gambhir, he played a key role in the team's batting and fielding setup.
During his stint with the Indian team, he was part of the coaching group that guided India to the 2025 Asia Cup title and a successful defence of the 2026 Men's T20 World Cup. However, India's Test team struggled during the same period, losing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia and suffering home Test series defeats against New Zealand (0-3) and South Africa (0-2).
