Former Indian captain Rahul Dravid has lamented the absence of homegrown coaches in the Indian Premier League.
The IPL, which launched in 2008, has seen head coaches from abroad employed across several franchises for more than a decade.
The 2019 edition of the tournament, by example, saw Australia's Ricky Ponting and New Zealand's Stephen Fleming coach the Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings, respectively.
India's Mithun Manhas and Mohammad Kaif, meanwhile, worked as assistant coaches alongside Ponting at the Capitals and Kings XI head coach Mike Hesson, respectively.
“I believe we've got some very good coaches, a lot of good people. I'm fully confident [in their ability]. Just as we have a lot of talent in the cricket department, we have a lot of talent in the coaching department,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Dravid as saying.
Latest IPL betting
| IPL Team | Winner Odds |
| Mumbai Indians | 5.0 |
| Hyderabad Sunrisers | 5.5 |
| Chennai Super Kings | 6.0 |
| Royal Challengers Bangalore | 8.0 |
| Delhi Capitals | 8.0 |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | 8.0 |
| Rajasthan Royals | 10.0 |
| Kings XI Punjab | 11.0 |
“We need to give them confidence and time to flourish. I'm sure they will do it. It does sometimes disappoint me when a lot of our boys don't get opportunities as assistant coaches in IPL.
“Honestly, there are so many Indian players in the IPL, there's so much of local knowledge among our coaches. I feel a lot of teams could actually benefit from using a lot of our Indian coaches in the IPL.
“They know the Indian players better, they understand them better. Even as assistant coaches. There is a lot of talent and ability. It just needs to be given the opportunity, and flourish.”
The Proteas recently hired veteran Mumbai first-class cricketer Amol Muzumdar as a batting consultant during a key Test series against India.
“I think a lot of IPL teams miss a trick by not using more domestic talent in the coaching area and the talent identification area, even if it is as assistants. That's my personal opinion,” added Dravid, who represented the Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore during five years in the IPL.
