Mohammad Azharuddin calls for Indian head coaches in IPL

It would not be entirely wrong to state that most of the Indian Premier League (IPL) teams prefer overseas coaches than Indian coaches. Things changed in the Indian cricket ever since John Wright made his impact as India coach and since then, the overseas coaches are given more preference. At present, Anil Kumble is the only Indian who will coach an IPL side in the upcoming season.

And as the IPL teams are showing no signs of roping in Indian coaches, former India skipper Mohammad Azharuddin believes it is high time that the scenario changes. The legendary batsman has batted for the appointment of former India cricketers as head coaches. As the president of the Hyderabad Cricket Association, Azharuddin has submitted a formal proposal at the BCCI’s Annual General Meeting on Sunday. The HCA supremo has asked the board and the IPL Governing Council to think over the matter.

“I know it is the franchise’s prerogative. I respect that, but when you call it the Indian Premier League, former cricketers need to get benefited. The players from abroad are getting benefited and I have no problem with that. But we have to promote our coaches as well,” Azharuddin was quoted as saying by Sportstar.

Mohammad Azharuddin agrees with Rahul Dravid

Azharuddin’s comments come after another former India skipper, Rahul Dravid had also made the same observation. Dravid too had batted for India coaches in IPL and had also said that the IPL franchises’ are missing a trick by not appointing former India cricketers as coaches. Dravid himself had coached Rajasthan Royals in the past.

Echoing Dravid’s sentiments, Azharuddin said: “We need to respect our players. Our players are as good as anybody, or even better than many. They should become head coaches. There is no dearth of coaches here. I have raised the matter to the Governing Council. Let’s wait and see.”

Apart from Dravid and Kumble, Virender Sehwag and Lalchand Rajput had coached IPL teams too. While Sehwag was the mentor of Kings XI Punjab, Rajput was the head coach of Mumbai Indians in the inaugural season of IPL.