Who they are: Current Head Coaches of all 8 IPL teams

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is India's biggest franchise-based cash-rich league that is on the verge of its 13th edition in 2020. The highly-anticipated auction for the upcoming season will take place in Kolkata on 19th December.

The coaching management plays a vital role in bringing the best out of their players and letting them perform as a team. The franchises get the best veterans for the job to ensure that they spend the right amount of money on the right players at the auction.

Three out of eight franchises have opted to stick with their coaches of last season. Almost all 8 head coaches have had the experience of playing in the IPL.

As we get close to another exhilarating edition, let's take a look at the head coaches of all eight franchises for IPL 2020, and their IPL background as well.

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#1 Stephen Fleming (Chennai Super Kings)

Stephen Fleming

Stephen Fleming is known as one of the finest captains New Zealand has ever produced in all formats of the game. He led his team to clinch the ICC KnockOut Trophy back in 2000, which remains New Zealand's only ICC title to date. Fleming also captained NZ in the historic first-ever T20I against Australia in 2005.

A left-handed batsman and a dependable slip fielder, Stephen Fleming still is the leading run-scorer for New Zealand in Tests (7,172 runs) and the second-highest in ODIs (8,007 runs). He was a part of the World Cup squad on four occasions.

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IPL Background:

Stephen Fleming debuted with the Chennai Super Kings back in 2008 and scored 196 runs in 10 matches at a strike rate of 118.79. After announcing his retirement in 2009, Fleming has been the head coach of CSK since.

His IPL stint as a coach remains the most successful with CSK having won the title in 2010, 2011, and 2018 under the captaincy of MS Dhoni. He also coached the 2010 Champions League title-winning side in CSK, forming a successful association with the team.

#2 Ricky Ponting (Delhi Capitals)

Ricky Ponting

One of the most dangerous batsmen of his era, Ricky Ponting captained Australia to two World Cup and two Champions Trophy wins. He remains the most successful skipper from Australia.

Ponting amassed 13,704 ODI runs and 13,378 Test runs, and is Australia's leading run-scorer in history. He retired in 2012 with 41 centuries and 30 centuries in Tests and ODIs respectively.

IPL Background:

Ricky Ponting signed with Kolkata Knight Riders in 2008 but could only score 39 runs in four innings. He couldn't create an impact for KKR and he joined Mumbai Indians in 2013. He was announced as the captain of MI and formed a dream opening partnership with Sachin Tendulkar in the initial outings.

He could only score 52 runs in the season as he stepped down from the captaincy mid-season to Rohit Sharma. MI went on to win their maiden title in 2013. Ponting remained associated with MI, serving as the winning coach of 2015 as well.

Ponting joined Delhi Daredevils (now, Delhi Capitals) from 2017 as part of their coaching team and coached them to the playoffs in 2019.

#3 Anil Kumble (Kings XI Punjab)

Anil Kumble

Having served Indian cricket for over 18 years, Anil Kumble is renowned as one of the best spinners of all time. Despite not turning the ball too much, he relied upon his flippers that showed precision and accuracy in his spin bowling.

Kumble took 956 wickets in his career as the third-highest wicket-taker in the cricketing world. He also claimed all ten wickets in an innings against Pakistan during their 1999 tour of India.

IPL Background:

Anil Kumble represented Royal Challengers Bangalore in the first three seasons of the IPL. He took a five-for and gave away only five runs in a match against Rajasthan Royals in 2009. Kumble led RCB to the final in 2009 and took 21 wickets that year. He captained RCB to the semi-finals in IPL 2010 before announcing his retirement.

With 45 IPL wickets to his name, Anil Kumble joined RCB and Mumbai Indians as their chief mentor for two years each. It is the first time Anil Kumble will play the role of a head coach after signing with Kings XI Punjab for the upcoming season.

#4 Brendon McCullum (Kolkata Knight Riders)

Brendon McCullum

The former New Zealand captain in all three formats, Brendon McCullum is one of the most destructive batsmen to have ever played the game of Cricket. With his hard-hitting ability, he has the record of the fastest century by any batsman in Tests in just 54 balls.

With more than 6,000 runs in both Tests and ODIs, his batting as an opener was always exciting to watch. He led New Zealand to the final of the 2015 Cricket World Cup as well.

IPL Background:

Brendon McCullum lit up the inaugural IPL in the very first match in history when he scored 158* out of 73 deliveries with 13 sixes to his name. He has represented Kolkata Knight Riders, Kochi Tuskers Kerala, Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Lions, and Royal Challengers Bangalore in ten seasons of the IPL.

Brendon's best season came in 2015 when he scored 436 runs in 14 innings with CSK taking them to the final. He didn't find any buyer in last year's auction, and that led him to retire from the format. With a strike rate of 131.74, McCullum scored 2880 runs in 109 matches with two centuries to his name.

#5 Mahela Jayawardene (Mumbai Indians)

Mahela Jayawardene

Mahela Jayawardena is one of the finest batsman to come out of Sri Lanka with more than 10,000 runs in both Tests and ODIs. He was named the skipper of Sri Lanka in 2006, and led the team to the final of the 2007 World Cup. He was also a part of Sri Lanka team that played the final of the 2009 and 2012 ICC World Twenty20.

Jayawardene also played a vital role in the Sri Lankan team that won the 2014 ICC T20 World Cup. He holds the record for the highest individual score (374) in a single innings by a right-handed batsman in Tests to date.

IPL Background:

Mahela Jayawardene played six seasons of IPL with Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab, and Kochi Tuskers Kerela. He has the most runs by a Sri Lankan player in the IPL with 1,802 runs. He showed consistency in his performance as a dependable batsman in the middle-order.

His best performance in a season came in 2010 as he scored 110* in a match against KKR as Kings XI Punjab chased down a total of 200 with ten balls to spare. He went on to score 439 runs that season.

Jayawardene has been the coach of Mumbai Indians since 2017 and has guided the team to two-title victories in that time.

#6 Andrew McDonald (Rajasthan Royals)

Andrew McDonald

A right-arm fast bowling-allrounder, Andrew McDonald had more success in the domestic circuit than his national stint. He could only play 4 Tests for Australia during a tour of South Africa, clinching nine wickets.

In 2006/07, he became the fifth player to have 750 runs and 25 wickets in a single season of the Pura Cup, or the Sheffield Shield, representing Victoria and has been a vital player for them.

IPL Background:

Although McDonald didn't have much national exposure, his performances in the domestic circuit built his reputation in the IPL. He represented Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore during the years from 2009 to 2013. McDonald clinched 11 wickets in his IPL career. He has signed a 3-year deal with the Rajasthan Royals as their head coach this year.

#7 Simon Katich (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

Simon Katich

Simon Katich played for the Australian cricket team from 2001 to 2010. He was a promising player of his time, known for his ability to strike the ball for a well-settled inning. He has played over 56 test matches with a batting average of 45.03.

Although he was in and out of the team many times, he has performed decently whenever given opportunities. His best ODI score was against Sri Lanka when he smashed 107* in 2006. He was the captain of New South Wales that won the inaugural Champions League T20 in 2010.

IPL Background:

Simon Katich represented Kings XI Punjab in the first two seasons of IPL. Katich scored 75 runs as his highest score in 2008 but only got two matches to play in the season. His role as a middle-order batsman came handy for KXIP in 2009 when he scored 145 runs in 9 innings.

The Australian southpaw didn't get picked by any teams later on. He announced his retirement from all formats of the game in 2014. Katich got signed as the assistant coach of Kolkata Knight Riders in 2019 before joining Royal Challengers Bangalore as their head coach for the upcoming season.

#8 Trevor Bayliss (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

Trevor Bayliss

A first-class cricketer from New South Wales, Trevor Bayliss was a middle-order batsman for them with 3,060 first class runs from 1985 to 1993. He took over as the coach of New South Wales and led them to the 2004-05 season.

Bayliss coached the Sri Lankan cricket team from 2007 to 2011, helping the team finish as runners-up in the 2011 Cricket World Cup. He had a successful coaching stint wth Sydney Sixers in 2011/12 Big Bash League.

Under Bayliss, England won the recent 2019 Cricket World Cup with Eoin Morgan as the skipper of the side. He has been coaching the England Cricket Team since 2015 before finally resigning from the role after Ashes 2019.

IPL Background:

Trevor Bayliss is the only coach in the IPL this year who hasn't played in the tournament. Due to his successful stint with Sydney Sixers, he was appointed as the head coach of Kolkata Knight Riders in 2012 when the Gautam Gambir-led franchise won their maiden title by defeating Chennai Super Kings.

He continued with KKR in 2013, where the team could only win six out of 14 matches in the group stages. In 2014, KKR won their second-title against Kings XI Punjab after the team had a major revamp in their line-up. Trevor Bayliss got announced as the new head coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad by replacing Tom Moody.