IPL 2020: Indians in demand for coaching positions

One of the ideas former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly had mooted when he was a member of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council, was to make it mandatory for the IPL team owners to have Indian coaches. But he was told then that the BCCI couldn't be dictatorial in this regard, and that hiring coaching staff was up to the choice of individual teams.

Four years down the line, Ganguly, who now heads the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), might be seeing his dream come true – at least partially. At the moment all the IPL 2020 teams have Indian coaches among their coaching staff, even if not in the role of head coach.

Sources say that the desire for foreign coaches is still present, but most of the ancillary coaching positions are filled with Indians. "If the core team is the Indian players, why should all the members of the support staff be from somewhere else," a team official said, while adding that Ganguly's wish is coming true without any intervention from the BCCI.

Indian coaches given priority in IPL 2020 teams' support staff

It had become a custom for the foreign coaches to get their own countrymen as support staff. After Ricky Ponting was hired as the head coach by the Delhi franchise, he got a bowling coach in compatriot James Hopes and was keen on adding an Australian fielding coach too. But the other members of the franchise wanted an Indian in that position, and Ponting's request was denied.

Mohammed Kaif was roped in as Delhi Capitals fielding coach

Ponting's choices were not exactly bad. But when the teams can promote Indian coaches, why hire a foreigner?

Ganguly, who was made the mentor of the Delhi team the subsequent year, would have had strong memories of his experience with Greg Chappell as the coach of the Indian team. Although Ganguly had played a big role in getting Chappell on board, he later had an infamous public spat with the Australian that left plenty of scars on Indian cricket.

"Now Ganguly should be happy the way things are happening in IPL 2020 teams," a former IPL governing council member said.

Indian coaches come at half the price

BCCI's obsession with foreign coaches seems to be a thing of the past. There have been occasions recently when the board had the choice of picking a foreign coach, but ended up picking an Indian - like Ravi Shastri or Anil Kumble.

Sources say this trend is likely to continue for a while, mainly due to the fact that Indian coaches are much cheaper.

Indian coaches make between Rs 1.4 cr to Rs. 2 cr annually

On average, a top foreign coach gets an annual deal worth Rs. 4 or 5 crore. The Indian assistant coaches meanwhile are making between Rs. 1.4 to Rs. 2 crore annually right now. It won't be a surprise if that amount is bumped up in the editions after IPL 2020.

When the league started in 2008, the average salary of a coach was around Rs. 40 lakh. Needless to say, that figure has seen exponential growth over the last 13 years.