Dwayne Bravo will replace Gautam Gambhir as mentor at the Kolkata Knight Riders.

The West Indies all-rounder announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on Thursday after his CPL campaign was cut short by injury.

Apart from KKR, Bravo will be in charge of all franchises under Knight Riders in T20 leagues — Trinbago Knight Riders (CPL), Los Angeles Knight Riders (MLC) and Abu Dhabi Knight Riders (ILT20). The post at KKR fell vacant after Gambhir joined Team India as head coach.

At KKR, Bravo will have Chandrakant Pandit as the head coach and Bharat Arun as bowling coach. Besides Gambhir, KKR also lost two of their assistant coaches, Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate, both of whom are now part of the Team India support staff.

Bravo thus ended his long career at Chennai Super Kings, with whom he won four IPL titles in different roles.

Bravo, who will turn 41 next month, has worked with CSK as bowling coach for the last two seasons and was also Afghanistan's consultant for the 2024 T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the US.

KKR, the defending IPL champions, had been in discussions with Kumar Sangakkara, director of cricket at Rajasthan Royals, for taking up the mentor's role, but the talks fell through.

"DJ Bravo joining us is an exciting development," Knight Riders CEO Venky Mysore said in a statement. "His relentless drive to win, along with his vast experience and deep knowledge, will greatly benefit our franchise and players."

Bravo too was excited with his new role. "I've been part of the Trinbago Knight Riders for the last 10 years in the CPL. Having played for and against the Knight Riders in various leagues, I have a lot of respect for how they operate," he said.

"The owners' passion, the professionalism of the management, and the family-like environment make it a special place. This is the perfect platform for me as I transition from playing to mentoring and coaching the next generation of players."

Bravo will have an opportunity to work with his long-time West Indies teammates, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine, at KKR, provided the team management decides to retain them.

Bravo (183) is the third-highest wicket-taker in IPL history — after Yuzvendra Chahal (205) and Piyush Chawla (192) — and the first player to win two purple caps in the tournament. His death over bowling was among the best in world cricket and as CSK's bowling coach, he worked intensely on developing this aspect within the team.

Bravo was behind Stephen Fleming, Mike Hussey and Eric Simmons in the pecking order at CSK, but will be at the helm at KKR.