 "Ricky Ponting (PBKS), Mahela Jayawardene (MI) and Rahul Dravid (RR) are some of the major backroom staff appointments ahead of IPL 2025. Image credit: Delhi Capitals/Mumbai Indians/AP")
The Indian Premier League (IPL) will be undergoing a major overhaul this year with the fifth mega auction in the history of the league set to take place later this month. The auction had taken place in Dubai on 19 December last year, the first time it had taken place outside of India, and is set to return to the Middle East with Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah hosting the event on the 24th and 25th of November.
While mini auctions help franchises make a few changes to their squad and plug gaps wherever they may be, mega auctions are where they get to retain only the core group of players while rebuilding the rest of the squad in the auction.
The overhaul, however, doesn’t appear to be limited to the playing group across the 10 franchises ahead of the 17th season of the IPL, with several teams opting for bring in fresh faces in their backroom staff as well.
Here’s a detailed guide to the support staff changes ahead of the IPL mega auction, including appointment of new head coaches:
Mumbai Indians
The five-time IPL champions welcomed Mahela Jayawardene back as head coach , parting ways with Mark Boucher after two seasons. Jayawardene had previously coached MI from 2017 to 2022 before taking on a new role as the franchise’s global head of cricket – wherein he was tasked with monitoring the progress of MI teams in other leagues such as SA20, ILT20 and MLC.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsDuring Boucher’s reign, MI went as far as Qualifier 2 in IPL 2023, they finished at the bottom of the 10-team table the following year. Jayawardene, who had helped the side win three titles, has been tasked with reviving the team’s fortunes.
Rajasthan Royals
After his tenure as India head coach ended on a dream note with the Rohit Sharma-led Men in Blue winning the T20 World Cup in the US and the Caribbean, Rahul Dravid joined Rajasthan Royals as their new head coach, replacing Kumar Sangakkara in the role.
Dravid had previously captained the franchise towards the end of his playing career and had also served as mentor and will be hoping to guide the team to their second title after returning to the franchise in an upgraded role.
Delhi Capitals
Delhi Capitals have undergone some sweeping changes ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction, not only by releasing their captain and wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant but also by roping in a new head coach and Director of Cricket. While former India batter Hemang Badani replaces ex-Australia captain Ricky Ponting as the head coach, Venugopal Rao takes over from former India skipper Sourav Ganguly as the DoC with the latter being appointed in a similar role at JSW Sports.
DC also announced former India seamer Munaf Patel as their bowling coach on Tuesday.
Punjab Kings
Ponting, meanwhile, has joined Punjab Kings as their new coach after parting ways with the Capitals , where he had spent seven seasons. ‘Punter’ replaces fellow Aussie Trevor Bayliss in the role, the latter getting released after PBKS finished 8th and 9th respectively in the last two seasons.
Also Read | Why Ricky Ponting left Delhi Capitals after seven seasons as head coach
Ponting is also Punjab’s seventh head coach since 2016, and will be hoping his arrival brings with it a sense of stability in the franchise, at least in the support staff if not in the playing group.
Kolkata Knight Riders
While Chandrakant Pandit continues to serve as the head coach of the defending champions, KKR have parted ways with Gautam Gambhir once again, with the former captain having mentored them in the successful 2024 season in which they won their third title. Gambhir would then accept an offer from the BCCI to coach the Indian team after Dravid’s tenure came to an end, and took with him Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate, who had served as assistant coaches at the Knight Riders.
KKR, who opted against retaining captain Shreyas Iyer, have since appointed former Chennai Super Kings all-rounder and bowling coach Dwayne Bravo as Gambhir’s replacement . Bravo will also be looking after the Knight Riders franchises in other leagues such as the Trinbago Knight Riders in the Caribbean Premier League.
Lucknow Super Giants
It’s not just KKR that lost support staff members following Gambhir’s appointment as India head coach, with Lucknow Super Giants bowling coach Morne Morkel also joining the Men in Blue as their bowling coach. LSG, who have opted to release captain KL Rahul back into the auction pool after a disappointing 2024 season, have since appointed Zaheer Khan as their mentor .
The former India pacer not only fills in the role that had been vacated by Gambhir after he chose to join KKR ahead of the 2024 season, he will also be looking after the bowling department of the franchise following Morkel’s exit.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Three-time runners-up RCB signed Dinesh Karthik as their batting coach as well as mentor immediately after the conclusion of the 17th season, which was the wicketkeeper-batter’s final appearance in the IPL as a player as he announced his retirement from all forms of the game. Former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower remains the head coach for now with Mo Bobat as the Director of Cricket.
Gujarat Titans
Former India wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel has joined Gujarat Titans as their new assistant as well as batting coach ahead of the 18th season of the IPL. Patel, who had represented six IPL franchises as a player, had previously served as Mumbai Indians scout as well as batting coach of MI Emirates, their franchise in ILT20. The 39-year-old thus is set for his maiden coaching stint in the IPL.
Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad are yet to announce any changes to their support staff ahead of IPL 2025, with ex-Black Caps Stephen Fleming and Daniel Vettori continuing to serve as head coach of the ‘Yellow Army’ and ‘Orange Army’ respectively.