New Delhi, Aug 17: The doyen of India's domestic coaches Chandrakant Pandit has been appointed Kolkata Knight Riders' head coach for the upcoming IPL season, the franchise announced on Wednesday.

Pandit replaces Brendon McCullum, who is now the head coach of the England Test side.

Pandit, the most celebrated coach in the Indian domestic circuit, recently guided Madhya Pradesh to their maiden Ranji Trophy title, having won the national championship multiple times with Mumbai and Vidarbha.

Known to work wonders with unheralded domestic teams, this will be the former India wicketkeeper's first big assignment at the elite level.

"We are very excited that Chandu is joining the Knight Riders family to lead us through the next phase of our journey," KKR CEO Venky Mysore said in a statement.

"His deep commitment to what he does and his track record of success in domestic cricket, is there for everyone to see. We are looking forward to his partnership with our skipper Shreyas Iyer, which promises to be an exciting one," he added.

Accepting the new challenge, Pandit said, "I have heard from players and others who have been associated with the Knight Riders, about the family culture, as well as the tradition of success that has been created.

"I am excited about the quality of the support staff and the players who are part of the set up and I am looking forward to this opportunity with all humility and positive expectations."

The 60-year-old Pandit played five Tests and 36 ODIs for India between mid '80s to early '90s.

In an interview to PTI, Pandit had said that he had once had a meeting with KKR's principal owner Shah Rukh Khan during the early years of IPL but back then he had made it clear that he wasn't keen to join support staff as an assistant coach.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday said it has attached Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani's Mumbai house, 'Abode', worth Rs 3,716 crore under the anti-money laundering law.

The attachment comes a day before Ambani, 66, is expected to appear before the federal probe agency here for his second round of questioning on Thursday in a case linked to the alleged bank loan fraud involving Reliance Communications (RCOM).

The luxurious house, which is stated to be 66-metre high with 17 floors, is located in the Pali Hill area of Mumbai.

A provisional order has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach the multi-storeyed house in the case linked to an alleged bank fraud by Ambani's group company RCOM, the federal probe agency said in a statement.

It stated that the value of the attached asset was Rs 3,716.83 crore.

A part of this property, worth Rs 473.17 crore, was similarly attached by the ED in November, 2025.

RCOM and its group companies availed loans from domestic and foreign lenders with a total outstanding of Rs 40,185 crore, as per the ED.

An email sent by PTI to the Reliance Group seeking comment on the development remained unanswered.

The ED issues a provisional attachment order against an immovable or movable asset to prevent the accused from transacting, selling, or transferring it during the investigation.

Once the PMLA Adjudicating Authority confirms this order within the stipulated 180 days, the ED can confiscate the property and, in the case of a house, ask residents to vacate it.

Probe found that, among other assets, the Pali Hill property (Abode) was aggregated into the RiseE Trust,“ a private family trust of the members of Ambani's family.

"This was done to make it appear as though Mr Anil Ambani is not involved. The intended effect of this corporate restructuring was to ensure wealth preservation and resource generation by aggregation of the property in the RiseE Trust and shield it from the personal liabilities of Mr Anil Ambani in the form of Personal Guarantees extended by him to lender banks against the loans sanctioned to RCOM," the agency claimed.

It added that the property was intended to be "beneficially" used and owned by the Anil Ambani family and not for the distressed public banks whose loans became non-performing assets (NPAs).

With the latest order, the total value of the attachment in this case stands at about Rs 15,700 crore.

Ambani is expected to appear before the federal probe agency here for his second round of questioning on Thursday.

He first deposed before the ED in August 2025 and had his statement recorded under the PMLA.

The agency recently constituted a special investigation team to probe multiple cases of alleged bank fraud and linked financial irregularities against the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) on the directions of the Supreme Court.