Ashish Nehra will reportedly join as the head coach for the Ahmedabad IPL team.© AFP
Former Indian fast bowler Ashish Nehra will be the head coach of Ahmedabad IPL franchise during the 2022 Indian Premier League season, while England opener of yesteryear Vikram Solanki is lining up to become director of Cricket. World Cup-winning former India coach Gary Kirsten will be the ‘Mentor’ of the franchise, who expect to receive its formal ‘Letter of Intent’ (LOI) later this month. “As far as I’ve 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 is expected to also act as a batting coach and Kirsten will be in a mentor role,” said one senior IPL resource to PTI on terms of anonymity.
“The Ahmedabad franchise cannot formally announce it as it is a BCCI dictation and they cannot make a formal announcement until after they get the LOI. The chief honchos of the Ahmedabad franchise have already interviewed the trio and given them on shortlisted for the season,” the source says.
Nehra previously coached Royal Challengers Bangalore where Kirsten was also involved for a number of seasons.
Both have had a long and fruitful working relationship since Nehra was a player and Kirsten his national team coach.
Nehra shares a good rapport, even with Solanki, who previously worked as a coach at IPL.
Once it gets the green light from BCCI, the franchise will go ahead and select a few assistant coaches.
Nehra had not been coached for two seasons as he had decided that he would only take on such an assignment if he has the profile of a head coach where he can make a difference in both team composition and strategy.
promoted
He’s had multiple offers from various IPL franchises, but it’s clear that the former left-arm speedster is more inclined to take on the challenge of building a crack team from scratch.
Neither Nehra nor Kirsten could be reached for comment.
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