'Indian coaches understand and know the system, and they know a lot of Indian players. Every IPL team has at least 17-18 Indian players,' Rahul Dravid said
Lucknow: Batting legend Rahul Dravid wants to see more Indian coaches in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 tournament.
Dravid, who is currently the head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, feels India has “got some very good coaches” and backed them to succeed in the cash-rich league.
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“I believe we’ve got some very good coaches, a lot of good people. I’m fully confident (in their ability). Just as we have a lot of talent in the cricket department, we have a lot of talent in the coaching department,” Dravid, who had captained Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the IPL, was quoted as saying in the media.
“We need to give them confidence and time to flourish. I’m sure they will do it. It does sometimes disappoint me when a lot of our boys don’t get opportunities as assistant coaches in IPL.
“Honestly, there are so many Indian players in the IPL, there’s so much of local knowledge (among our coaches). I feel a lot of teams could actually benefit from using a lot of our Indian coaches in the IPL. They know the Indian players better, they understand them better,” he added during his visit to Lucknow on Thursday (November 28).
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Dravid was in Lucknow to watch the one-day series between India Under-19 and Afghanistan Under-19 teams.
The former India captain further said, “I think a lot of IPL teams miss a trick by not using more domestic talent in the coaching area and the talent identification area, even if it is as assistants. That’s my personal opinion.
“It’s not for me to decide for franchises and head coaches what they do, but I think they miss a trick by not involving more Indian coaches.
“Indian coaches understand and know the system, and they know a lot of Indian players. Every IPL team has at least 17-18 Indian players. It’s my personal view, but I would love to see a lot of our boys get the opportunity to be in and around that environment. Hopefully we can work with some teams to try and ensure that.”
Spin legend Anil Kumble is the only Indian head coach among all the eight IPL franchises. Kumble was recently appointed by Kings XI Punjab (KXIP).
Last Updated Nov 29, 2019, 12:50 PM IST