Namibia all-rounder David Wiese, who was part of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) franchise in the 2023 season of the Indian Premier League, opened up on dressing room tensions between certain players and head coach Chandrakant Pandit.

Pandit, a highly successful coach in the domestic circuit, has been part of a number of successful Ranji Trophy sides like Mumbai, Vidarbha and Madhya Pradesh before being roped in by the KKR franchise ahead of the 2022 season. Under him, the Kolkata Knight Riders failed to qualify for the play-offs, eventually finishing seventh among the 10 teams.

Wiese, who had featured in three games for the side during the season, opened up on the dressing room atmosphere throughout the campaign under Pandit, who had replaced New Zealander Brendon McCullum to the top spot in the KKR set-up.

“There were certain issues going on behind the scenes in the team. Guys weren’t happy with certain things that were going on, and a lot of the times, it was a tough changing room. There was a new coach coming in and he liked to do things a certain way, and that didn’t sit well with the players,” David said in a podcast.

The Namibian all-rounder said that some of the players were frustrated with Pandit’s style of being a hard taskmaster in his role as a coach.

“Guys were frustrated because a lot changed, and the coach brought in things that he thought would bring success. But as an overseas player, they sometimes don’t sit well. He’s known in India as a fairly militant type of coach, a strict disciplinarian. The overseas guys who’ve played all over the world don’t need someone coming in and telling him how to behave and what to wear and what to do. I was chill with it, but there were players more stubborn than me,” he said.

The 38-year-old further revealed that the players in the team started to focus on personal performances when it became evident that the franchise wasn’t going to qualify for the play-offs.

“As the tournament goes on, you kind of sense whether you have a shot at qualifying or not. It’s not about whether you’re playing; it’s just about spending another couple of weeks away from family. For me personally, the result of the game didn’t matter that much, but I still got pulled into personal performances,” he went on to say.

He also mentioned star batter Rinku Singh during the course of his conversation.

“As a player, you appreciate it when guys do well. Rinku Singh smacks five sixes – you can’t not appreciate that. It’s just that the result doesn’t have much emphasis anymore. You don’t sit there nervous about whether you’re going to win. And you start investing in the guys’ personal performances instead,” he said.

Pandit, who represented India in five Test matches and 36 ODIs, was retained as the head coach of the ongoing IPL 2024 season, and under him, the KKR side opened their campaign with a nail-biting four-run win in their season opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Eden Gardens on Sunday. KKR are set to play their second game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Friday.