I would like to see more Indian coaches in the IPL: Anil Kumble
Former Indian Cricketer and coach Anil Kumble, who is currently serving as the chief coach of IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab, expressed his desire to witness more Indian coaches in the IPL, stating that the current number of Indian coaches in the League is not the true reflection of the coaching resources in the country.
“I would like to see more Indian coaches in the IPL. It is not a true reflection of Indian resources. I would want to see many Indians being part of the IPL as head coaches,” said Kumble. “It is a bit of an irony – one Indian as head coach. I think at some point of time there will be a lot more Indian coaches.”
As Kumble stated, he is the only Indian head coach among the 8 IPL franchises. The remaining 7 teams comprise of 4 Australians, 2 New Zealanders, and 1 Sri Lankan as head coaches, although each franchise has Indians on their coaching support staff.
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Kumble then went on to talk about the role of the 40-year-old West Indies opener Chris Gayle’s role in the team, stating that his off-the-field role would be as important as his big-hitting at the top of the order.
He said, “Chris has a major role even as a player and even otherwise. His leadership, his experience, the youngsters look up to him. It is not just Chris the batsman we are looking at but Chris in a leadership role in terms of his contribution to developing young players. I want him to be active on the mentorship role.”
Anil Kumble wants Chris Gayle to be active in terms of being a mentor to the team due to his experience
Other than Chris Gayle, Anil Kumble, and his support staff will have 6 more foreigners to choose from for the four overseas spots in the XI. Among them, other than Sheldon Cottrell and Hardus Viljoen, who are specialist fast bowlers, Glenn Maxwell, Nicholas Pooran, James Neesham, and Chris Jordan all have a second skill set.
“Not just foreign players, picking Indian players will be a challenge. We have a few practice games that will we will tell us (the best combination). We have a strong team. We needed an impact player in the middle and not just with batting and fielding and Maxwell is also handy with the ball. And the fast bowler (Cottrell) who bowls at the death,” said Kumble.
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“It is about holding nerves. There will be moments, IPL it is not a smooth ride always. We need to focus on what we can achieve, not worry about other teams. We are confident we would be able to achieve that.”
The biosecurity protocols in place have, in a way, hindered movement for all teams, but Kumble said the upside of that was the support staff getting to know the players well. He said, “It was my first time meeting with the whole squad. Because of the COVID situation, we are able to spend more time with the team than usual. That way we have been able to understand not just seniors but even the younger lot.”