Former India fast bowler Ashish Nehra will be the head coach of the Ahmedabad IPL franchise during the 2022 Indian Premier League season, while England opener Vikram Solanki is in line to become ‘Director of Cricket.’
Former India coach Gary Kirsten will serve as the franchise’s ‘Mentor,’ with the franchise expecting to receive its formal ‘Letter of Intent’ (LOI) later this month.
“From what I’ve heard, they’ve hired Ashish as their head coach and someone in overall charge of the franchise. Solanki will be the ‘Director of Cricket,’ also serving as batting coach, and Kirsten will serve as a mentor,” a senior IPL source revealed PTI on condition of anonymity.
“The Ahmedabad franchise cannot formally announce it because it is a BCCI diktat, and they can only make a formal announcement after receiving the LOI.” “The Ahmedabad franchise’s top brass has already interviewed and short-listed the trio for the season,” a source said.
Nehra previously worked as a coach for Royal Challengers Bangalore, where Kirsten played for a few seasons.
Both of them have had a long and fruitful working relationship since the time when Nehra was a player and Kirsten his national coach.
Once it gets the green light from BCCI, the franchise will go ahead and select a few assistant coaches.
Nehra had been away from coaching for two seasons because he had decided that he would only accept such an assignment if he possessed the profile of a head coach capable of making a difference in terms of team composition and strategy.
He received multiple offers from various IPL franchises, but it is believed that the former left-arm pacer is more interested in taking on the challenge of building a strong team from the ground up.