Sunil Gavaskar. (Photo Source: Twitter)
IPL 2023 has given birth to a lot of potential superstars who can represent the national team in the coming years. Under the watchful eyes of Chandrakant Pandit, Rinku Singh and Suyash Sharma emerged as new heroes of Kolkata Knight Riders while Gautam Gambhir really helped Krunal Pandya develop as a leader and also groomed players like Naveen-ul-Haq and Ayush Badoni among many others.
Ashish Nehra in Gujarat Titans has been brilliant as well and that has impressed former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar a lot. Talking about the importance of having an Indian coach in the mix, Gavaskar stated that it’s relatively easier for the Indian domestic players to communicate with their coaches if he or she is an Indian, rather than foreign coaches, where the language can be a barrier. However, Gavaskar also clarified that there are exceptions as well.
“Look at the progress made by Rinku Singh under Chandu Pandit, the terrific coming back to form of Venkatesh Iyer and Varun Chakravarthy, and Nitish Rana growing as a captain. Under the guidance of Gautam Gambhir, see how Ravi Bishnoi, Ayush Badoni, and Naveen-Ul-Haq are flowering, as also under Ashish Nehra and Hardik Pandya, who invariably find a new player of the match.
That’s simply because communication and reach are easy for the domestic Indian players in these teams. Mind you, there will always be the overseas champ who has a way with young players and can act as a guide and mentor to them. These are rare exceptions and not the norm,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.
Notably, under Ashish Nehra, Gujarat Titans won the IPL in 2022 and under Gambhir, LSG have managed to qualify for the playoffs in both seasons of their existence. Chandrakant Pandit meanwhile developed Rinku Singh into a potential star and also revived the career of Venkatesh Iyer, who was in very poor form for almost a year. On the other hand, having foreign coaches like Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting and Trevor Bayliss hasn’t really helped SRH, DC and PBKS this season.