Kolkata: KKR is likely to announce the much-awaited coach's name before the beginning of their season by three practice matches with Champions League T20 teams in Gurgaon.
"West Indies captain Chris Gayle is expected to feature in the three practice matches from October 3 to 5 but all depends on his availability," former India captain Sourav Ganguly who is all set to return as KKR captain in IPL III, said.
Asked whether the coach and captain's names would be announced ahead of the three fixtures, the southpaw said, "May be, we are somewhat waiting for the announcement. But as I have said, I am more concerned about the team.
The Shah Rukh Khan-owned signed has already interviewed the likes of Wasim Akram, John Wright, Richard Pybus, Dermot Reeve, Michael Bevan among the foreign prospective candidates.
In their coach hunt held at Shah Rukh's residence in Mumbai, the team think tank including Ganguly has also interviewed the likes of Lalchand Rajput, WV Raman, Ashok Malhotra, Sandeep Patil and Praveen Amre among others.
According to sources, the team has delayed the announcement of their coach as they were discussing about the availability of the Pakistani great.
"We will be playing three matches in Gurgaon. On Chris Gayle's availability, it all depends if he is available during that time," he said.
"We have signed in few players and we will be signing few more. This time, we have got some more time to prepare. It's an important season ahead and we are better organised this time. We are very hopeful of a good performance this time around," Ganguly added.
The inaugural Champions League T20 will have 12 teams and will include the domestic Twenty20 winners of West Indies, Sri Lanka and New Zealand, as well as Delhi Daredevils, who topped the round-robin stage of the 2009 IPL.
The inaugural Champions Twenty20 League will be held from October 8-23, just after the Champions Trophy.
The third edition of the cash-rich tournament will be held from March 12-April 25.