How many Indian head coaches have won the IPL trophy?
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a coveted title in the eyes of both players and coaches. There is as much pressure on the support staff like the players on the field to bring success to the franchise.
As a result, team owners often go to great lengths to bring in some of the most reputed names in coaching circuit around the globe and assemble a team of experts around the central figure, to give the squad the best chance to outperform other sides on the ground.
In the tournament's rich history, overseas coaches have been quite dominant in terms of winning the title even though there is a solid presence of Indian coaches in the system. The likes of Stephen Fleming and Mahela Jayawardene have raked in titles, and are the arguably the most dominant coaches by far.
Only two Indian coaches have guided their sides to an IPL title following Chandrakant Pandit's recent success with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the 2024 season, with Ashish Nehra being the other one.
#1 Ashish Nehra (Gujarat Titans; IPL 2022)
The former Indian pacer had served as bowling coach with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), and it came as a massive surprise when he was named as head coach of the newly founded Gujarat Titans (GT) in 2022. He had the responsibility of forging the franchise's first-ever squad at the 2022 mega auction.
Forging an excellent relationship with team captain Hardik Pandya, GT defied the odds to lift the title in their inaugural season. There was a lot of emphasis on team environment and atmosphere, along with allowing the players to play with complete freedom.
The visuals of him taking notes on a paper, and sending substitutes onto the field to pass on a message will live long in the memory of the fans. Nehra could have had back-to-back titles to his name, but lost the 2023 final by a narrow margin to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
He still holds the role with GT, and has another major rebuild on his hands as the franchise aims to structure their squad around Shubman Gill and the rest of the youngsters.
#2 Chandrakant Pandit (Kolkata Knight Riders; IPL 2024)
A veteran in the Indian domestic circuit, Chandrakant Pandit replaced Brendon McCullum as KKR head coach ahead of the 2022 season. He had a couple of mediocre seasons to his name, before KKR added the final piece of the puzzle into the mix in the form of Gautam Gambhir.
Pandit had to deal with issues like adapting to the shortest format of the game, and dealing with crisis such as Shreyas Iyer being ruled out of the 2023 season entirely.
However, the trio of Gambhir, Pandit, and skipper Shreyas Iyer clicked together effortlessly to deliver KKR its third title. Pandit's feat also made him only the second Indian coach to win the IPL ever.
KKR's recent win also marked one of the most dominant campaigns ever witnessed in a single edition. The Purple and Gold lost just three matches en route the title triumph.
Pandit was in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons during the build-up to the tournament, with his strict disciplinarian coaching style coming into the picture. However, after an IPL title to his name now and the spirited KKR dressing room, those claims are unlikely to come up again.
It took 14 years for an Indian coach to get their hands on the IPL trophy, but two out of the last three editions have seen overseas coaches being trumped. The league still only has two Indian head coaches, and there could be an increase in the number in the future, which may lead to an expansion in this list.