IPL 2019: Head coach and other support staff of all 8 IPL teams

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a cash-rich form of franchise cricket, not only for the players but also for the coaches and the support staff. Almost at par with EPL, La Liga or the NFL with relevance to the coaching standards, the IPL offers all of them associated with it a way to interact with the best and earn quite a few bucks in a less than two month period.

With so much at stake and a fixed team purse, the teams go all out with their spending on their coaches and support staff, to get the best people for the job in order to ensure the necessary support to their players.

With teams, barring a few, opting for changes in personnel almost after every season of the IPL, it's important to keep a tab on the current coaches and staff to get an idea of what to expect in IPL 2019.

Disclaimer: This article has incorporated the existing staff of all eight teams as of 26 December 2018.

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Chennai Super Kings (CSK)

Stephen Fleming has been associated with CSK since 2008, first as a player and then as a coach.

Head coach: Stephen Fleming (NZ)

Stephen has been an indispensable part of CSK since 2008. His association with the team began as a player in 2008, and then as a coach since then. For the time period, CSK was banned from the IPL, Stephen continued his association with IPL as the coach of the Pune Supergiants.

His standing relation with M.S.Dhoni has been key for the CSK's fortunes in the IPL. They have combined together to win the IPL in 2010, 2011 and 2018 season, and also have two Champions League (CLT20) 2010 and 2014 trophies in their kitty.

Batting coach: Mike Hussey (AUS), Bowling coach: Lakshmipathy Balaji (IND)

Hussey and Balaji were both successfully associated with CSK during their playing careers, and since retirement, both have joined CSK in the 2018 season in their current roles.

Bowling consultant: Eric Simons (SA)

A former South African cricketer, Eric was associated with the Indian national cricket team for the period 2010-12.

Fielding coach: Rajiv Kumar (IND)

Dhoni's former Ranji captain and current coach of the Jharkhand state team

Physiotherapist: Tommy Simsek

Team Manager: Russell Radhakrishnan

Delhi Capitals (DC)

Ricky Ponting (L) in a conversation with Shahbaz Nadeem.

Head coach: Ricky Ponting (AUS)

The former Australian captain, Ricky Ponting started his association as a coach in the IPL with Mumbai Indians in 2014, and the association continued till the 2016 season. During this period MI won the IPL trophy in 2015.

Before the 2018 season, Ricky was announced as the coach of the Delhi Capitals (formerly Delhi Daredevils) and continues his association with the side for IPL 2019 as well.

Assistant coach: Mohammad Kaif (IND)

He was the assistant coach of the Gujarat Lions for the 2017 season and the 2019 season would be his first year as the assistant coach of the Delhi side.

Talent Scout: Mohammad Kaif and Pravin Amre (IND)

Bowling coach: James Hopes (AUS)

Hopes has been the bowling coach for the DC since the 2018 season and continues his association with the side for IPL 2019.

Fielding coach: Subhadeep Ghosh (IND)

Physiotherapists: Paul Close (NZ), Vaibhav Daga (IND)

Team Manager: Sunil Valson

Kings XI Punjab (KXIP)

Mike Hesson

Head coach: Mike Hesson (NZ)

The former head coach of New Zealand cricket team, Mike Hesson makes his IPL debut with the Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2019. His journey with the New Zealand cricket team to the finals of the ICC World Cup 2015 was one of the greatest successes of his career. And now the KXIP management has roped him to inspire their side to similar heights of success in the IPL.

Assistant coach: Mithun Manhas (IND)

An extremely hard-working first-class cricketer, Mithun failed to carve out a place for himself in the national side. He had been part of the IPL as a player from 2008 to 2014, and then, post-retirement has moved to a coaching role. He has been a part of the KXIP support staff since the 2017 season.

Bowling coach: Ryan Harris (AUS)

Fielding coach: Craig McMillan (NZ)

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)

Jacques Kallis

Head coach: Jacques Kallis (SA)

One of the most successful all-rounders of modern-day cricket, Kallis was the batting consultant for KKR in IPL 2015, and after the retirement of Trevor Bayliss took over as the coach. He became the first non-Australian coach of KKR in 2016.

Assistant coach: Simon Katich (AUS)

He has been a part of the KKR coaching staff since the 2015 season. He is also the coach of the Trinbago Knight Riders, KKR's sister-team at the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

Bowling coach: Heath Streak (ZIM)

Heath Streak was a part of the now-defunct Indian Cricket League (ICL) in its 2008 season. He had a two-year stint with the Gujarat Lions, and in the 2018 season was brought over to KKR as their bowling coach.

Physiotherapist: Andrew Leipus (AUS)

He was Team India's physiotherapist from 1999 to 2004. He is currently associated with two major T20 teams - KKR from IPL and Multan Sultans from the PSL.

Rajasthan Royals (RR)

Paddy Upton

Head coach: Paddy Upton (SA)

Upton began his IPL coaching career with Pune Warriors in 2012, then moved on to the Rajasthan Royals from 2013 to 2015, and then after the ban on RR, he became the coach for Delhi Capitals for IPL 2016 and 2017. He is back at RR as the head coach for the 2019 season.

Batting coach: Amol Muzumdar (IND)

Spin Bowling coach: Sairaj Bahutule (IND)

The only side to have a specialist spin bowling coach, it was quite a surprise when they did not go for a frontline spinner at the auction.

Fast Bowling coach: Steffan Jones (ENG)

Former England cricketer, Steffan Jones is the latest addition to the Rajasthan Royals coaching staff and comes over from the Hobart Hurricanes to become the new bowling coach of RR.

The auction buys of Jaydev Unadkat, Oshane Thomas, Varun Aaron, along with the retained - Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, and Dhawal Kulkarni would give Steffan a variety of options to work with.

Fielding coach: Dishant Yagnik (IND)

Physiotherapist: John Gloster (AUS)

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)

Gary Kirsten had worked closely with Virat during India's WC 2011 campaign.

One of the thinnest coaching staffs in the IPL currently, the RCB are likely to announce key additions to their support staff come 2019.

Head coach: Gary Kirsten (SA)

After an 8-year association with RCB, Daniel Vettori was replaced as the head coach for the upcoming season by Gary Kirsten. After a disappointing couple of seasons, the RCB would look to go all out under the mentorship of Gary in 2019.

Bowling coach: Ashish Nehra (IND)

After being out of reckoning from the national side for close to half a decade, Ashish Nehra took IPL 2015 by storm with 22 wickets in 16 matches with the Chennai Super Kings. His incredible performance gave him an entry into India's T20 side for the tour of Australia. He also came to play in the 2016 T20 World Cup, where he was India's best bowler.

His second innings in cricket only got better with an IPL trophy win in 2016 with SRH, and later in 2017, he announced his retirement as a cricketer.

After that, Ashish Nehra, or Nehraji as he is fondly known in the cricketing circles, took over the bowling coach position at RCB in 2018.

Physiotherapist: Evan Speechly (SA)

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)

Tom Moody would be looking forward to the return of David Warner for the 2019 season

Head coach: Tom Moody (AUS)

Tom has been a coach of the Sunrisers Hyderabad since the 2013 season when they were rechristened from Deccan Chargers after a change of ownership, and since then has taken the team to newer heights with each season.

In his six years as the head coach of the SRH, they have qualified for the playoffs four times and eventually became the Champions in 2016. They were the runners-up in the 2018 season, despite the absence of their key batsman, David Warner.

Assistant coach: Simon Helmot (AUS)

Simon is an Australian coach who was formerly the coach of the Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League (BBL) till 2015, and now, since 2018, is a part of the SRH coaching staff.

Bowling coach: Muttiah Muralitharan (SL)

Mentor: V.V.S.Laxman (IND)

Physiotherapist: Theo Kapkoulakis

Mumbai Indians (MI)

Mahela Jayawardene (R) in conversation with Hardik Pandya.

Head coach: Mahela Jayawardene (SL)

Mahela took over the head coach job from Ricky Ponting for the 2017 season and won his maiden IPL trophy with the side in the same year. While the 2018 season was a disappointment for Mumbai Indians as they failed to qualify for the playoffs, Mahela would look forward to a repeat of the 2017 performance in IPL 2019.

Assistant coach: Paras Mhambrey (IND)

Batting coach: Robin Singh (IND)

Bowling coach: Shane Bond (NZ)

Fielding coach: James Pamment (ENG)

James replaced Jonty Rhodes, who was an integral part of the Mumbai Indians' setup since 2008, as the fielding coach for the 2018 season, and continues with the same role for IPL 2019.

Batting Mentor: Sachin Tendulkar (IND)

Director of Cricket Operations: Zaheer Khan (IND)

Zaheer Khan becomes the latest addition to Mumbai Indians' high-profile coaching and administrative staff for the 2019 season of the IPL. He was seen at MI's table during the auctions and played a key role in strengthening the squad at the auctions.

Team Manager: Rahul Sanghvi