Former India fast bowler Ashish Nehra is poised to be named the Ahmedabad IPL franchise’s Head-Coach. Once Ahmedabad franchise owners receive an official green signal from the BCCI to manage the franchise, an announcement will be made.
Kristen as Mentor
Apart from Nehra, the franchise’s ‘Mentor’ will be World Cup-winning former India coach Gary Kirsten, who is expected to get his formal ‘Letter of Intent (LOI) later this month. Vikram Solanki, a former England opener, is in line to become the ‘Director of Cricket’.
A senior IPL source told PTI on conditions of anonymity: “As far as I have heard, they have signed Ashish as their head coach and someone who would be in overall charge of the franchise. Solanki will be the ‘Director of Cricket’ and also expected to double up as batting coach and Kirsten will be in a mentorship role.”
Nehra previously worked as a coach with Royal Challengers Bangalore, where Kirsten also spent a few seasons. Since Nehra was a player and Kirsten was his national coach, the two have enjoyed a long and good working relationship. Nehra gets along swimmingly with Solanki, who has previously worked as an IPL coach.
Nehra and BCCI
The source said: “The Ahmedabad franchise can’t announce it formally as it is a BCCI diktat and they can only make a formal announcement after they get the LOI. The head honchos of the Ahmedabad franchise has already interviewed the trio and short-listed them for the season.”
The team will appoint a few assistant coaches once it has received approval from the BCCI. Nehra had not coached in two seasons since he had decided that he would only accept such an assignment if he fit the profile of a head coach who could make a difference in terms of squad composition and strategy.
Despite receiving many offers from various IPL organizations, it is believed that the former left-handed speedster prefers to take on the challenge of constructing a top squad from the ground up. Nehra and Kirsten could not be reached for comment.
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