In the 10 years of the Indian Premier League, the milti-team competition has seen many men take the helm of affairs and lead franchises to success. Stephen Fleming enjoyed a great run with the Chennai Super Kings, helping them win the League on two occasions.
However, there have been a few personnel, who have played a role in the League, but are not known as well outside. We look at 5 such people here:
5.Mike Young was the fielding coach for the Deccan Chargers in the 2009 season
After a disastrous opening season of the League in 2008, the Deccan Chargers needed a change in guard across all fronts.They sacked Robin Singh as their head coach and brought in Darren Lehmann as his replacement.
He, in turn, brought his own set of support staff, the likes of Vincent Barnes as the bowling coach and Mike Young as the fielding coach.
The 61-year-old, who hails from Chicago in Illinois, was brought in to help the fielding and the younger lot of the side, the likes of Rohit Sharma and others did show off their athletic ability during the course of the season, diving all over the place and catching almost everything that came their way.
His efforts did not go in vain as the Chargers lifted the title, a year after they finished as the wooden-spooners.
4.Kepler Wessels was the coach of the Chennai Super Kings in the 2008 season
South African cricket may have come up by leaps and bounds since the time they returned to international cricket in 1992.
But if there is one man they need to thank who helped them lead the way for their side, it would be Kepler Wessels, who at the age of 34 came out and captained the Protean side in the 1992 World Cup.
Post his playing career, Wessels switched to coaching and was part of the county circuit, where he was in charge of Northamptonshire. In 2008, he was roped in by the Chennai Super Kings as their head coach for the 1st season of the League.
Consisting of a squad which had some heavyweight names that were capable of taking the team all the way to the title, the team put forth a superb show but faltered at the final hurdle where the Rajasthan Royals proved to be a tad better than them.
3.Dennis Lillee was a bowling consultant with the Delhi Daredevils in the 2008 season
Normally, one sees some of the past greats lambast the IPL and Twenty20 cricket in general for being too one-sided, lacking a contest between bat and ball and several other reasons which would make them give negative comments about the League and the format.
But in the very first season of the IPL, the Delhi Daredevils roped in one of the greatest fast bowlers the game has seen- Dennis Lillee- as their bowling consultant prior to the start of the competition.
The team boasted off legends like Glenn McGrath, Mohammad Asif etc and also had Indian talents like YoMahesh and Pradeep Sangwan and surely the time they spent with him would have helped them understand the finer nuances of fast bowling.
2.Jeremy Snape was the psychologist for the Rajasthan Royals in the 2008 season
Usually one hears of players heading into either coaching or commentary or into administration once their player has reached its end. Rarely do we hear about them into a field that has very little to do with any of the three departments of the game.
That is exactly what Jeremy Snape got into before the start of the 2008 IPL season as the Rajasthan Royals roped in the former England spinner as their psychologist for the 2008 season of the League.
The team, under Shane Warne, went on to surprise everyone by winning the inaugural edition of the competition.
1.Harsha Bhogle was part of the MI support staff in the 2008 season
The opening season of the IPL was a new experience for not just the players, but also to everyone who has watched or been involved in cricket in any form.The Mumbai Indians were among the most popular teams at the outset of the League with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Shaun Pollock and others in their ranks.
In the support staff, the team had several prominent names who had prior experience of being a part of the support staff.However, there was one man who was seen in the dugout for the first time.
Harsha Bhogle is often known to be as a man who brings a lot of joy in the box, but for the opening edition of the League, Bhogle was seen seated in the dugout as a team advisor for the Sachin Tendulkar-led side.
The team finished 5th on the table that year.
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