Former India batsman, captain, and selector chairman Dilip Vengsarkar are known for his solid, erudite game views. Vengsarkar never slims his words when it comes to Indian cricket, and says what he thinks.
With the Indian Premier League all set for its 13th season, Vengsarkar feels that more IPL franchises should go to Indian coaches as compared to foreign stars. Presently, Kings XI Punjab is the only team to have an Indian as its coach. The team of Kings XI Punjab is being coached by none other than Former Indian cricket legend Anil Kumble.
“I believe more Indian coaches should coach the IPL teams simply because they have the experience; they have also been coaching the states exceedingly well. Besides, how many Indian coaches are coaching teams in other countries’ league like Australia’s Big Bash, etc.? We find none. So why should we hire foreign coaches? I feel our coaches are equally good and some of them are even better. It’s time we give more opportunity to Indian coaches, I am sure they will do exceedingly well. Hopefully, IPL teams will have more Indian coaches than foreign coaches,” says Vengsarkar.
The subject of the IPL's few Indian head coaches recently came under the spotlight when Kumble spoke of the issue himself.
“I can’t answer that question (why other teams don’t have Indian head coaches). I don’t think it gives a true reflection of the quality or the availability of the Indian resources. It’s a bit of irony, right? It’s the Indian Premier League and then you have only one Indian as the head coach. I am hopeful that there will be more Indian coaches in the mix,” said Kumble during an interaction from Dubai last week.
The remaining seven IPL franchises have foreigners as head coaches: Brendon McCullum (Kolkata Knight Riders); Ricky Ponting (Delhi Capitals); Andrew McDonald (Rajasthan Royals); Mahela Jayawardene (Mumbai Indians); Trevor Bayliss (Sunrisers Hyderabad); Stephen Fleming (Chennai Super Kings) and Simon Katich (Royal Challengers Bangalore).
Just three Indians had coached in IPL before Kumble: Lalchand Rajput (MI), Robin Singh (SRH), and Venkatesh Prasad (RCB).
“The reason I have taken up this assignment with KXIP is that we have great a squad to go all the way. That’s my role, to prepare the team. This is the first time I am meeting the squad. Because of COVID, we have got to spend a longer time with the team. Otherwise, it’s just one week before the tournament,” said Kumble had said.