IPL: Missing Indians in chief coach factory
CHENNAI: What is most distinctly non-Indian in the Indian Premier League? Other than cheerleaders, the position of the chief coach would be a good answer. Of nearly 100 appointments in 12 years (eight every year including renewals; more than eight teams from 2011-2013), hardly 10 have been Indians.
There have been many in the roles of assistant coaches and mentors, but few at the top of the pyramid when it comes to support staff.It has to be noted that the IPL started and grew into a successful tournament in the period when an Indian coach was not the ‘in’ thing in the Indian team. The job was given to foreigners from 2000 and it was natural that a majority of the IPL coaches were from Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and England in the first few years. But the national team has had an all-Indian support cast from 2015. The franchises continue to go for foreigners.
The number of Indian chief coaches was two in 2008 — Robin Singh at Deccan Chargers and Lalchand Rajput for Mumbai Indians.While Robin went on to occupy the position at Mumbai Indians from 2010-12 with a healthy win-loss record, the handful of other Indians tried out in this role didn’t last long. Pravin Amre (Mumbai Indians), Sanjay Bangar (Kings XI Punjab), Virender Sehwag (Kings XI Punjab) did the job only for a season or two.
The likes of Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Zaheer Khan have worked as mentors, advisors, consultants or assistants. One can also notice a rise in the number of Indians in these roles. But none of them became chief coaches. And in the last two years, there has been no Indian chief coach at all.
A top official of one of the franchises reckons the reason is a combination of practical considerations and mindset. “When the IPL started, there were not enough qualified Indians. Over time, teams have not opted for a change because they have got comfortable with the idea of foreign coaches. I’m sure Indians will be seen in this role in the future.”
Elaborating, he identified man management as a reason. “One of the foremost requirement is handling players from different countries. We’ve seen some Indian coaches become too friendly with Indian players. Foreigners strike this balance better. Even a good Indian candidate might take time to get used to this. In IPL, there is no time. Opting for foreigners is basically about embracing a safer and proven formula.”
This is different from the trend worldwide. In franchise-based T20 leagues, one can see more natives in the mix. In Australia, six of the eight BBL chief coaches are Aussies, three of the six are Pakistanis in PSL. South Africa’s T20 Challenge also has a fair number of South African head coaches. The IPL is more like the Caribbean Premier League, where most are not from the West Indies. Incidentally, Robin is one of them.
“India is the strongest cricketing nation in many ways and it’s surprising that Indians are seldom considered for this job,” says former international Sunil Joshi, who has been working as spin-bowling consultant of the Bangladesh national team for two years. “There are many qualified coaches in India, who are doing well with domestic teams. Unless given chances, how do you know they are good or bad? In terms of international experience, many Indians are ahead of the foreigners doing the job.”
The former left-arm spinner, who successfully coached Hyderabad and J&K in the domestic circuit before taking up the Bangladesh offer, feels Indians are better equipped to get the best out of Indian players.
“There are seven Indian players in the XI and to a big extent, their performance determines how a team fares. Access to and communication with a foreigner can be a problem for them. Indians understand them better and hence stand a better chance of getting them to perform,” said Joshi.
