Who is Aashish Kapoor: The Ahmedabad-based franchise have added yet another arsenal to their coaching staff for IPL 2022.
Advertisement
With a few dark clouds hovering above the BCCI with regards to conduction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 pertaining the COVID-19 situation in the country, the addition of the two new IPL teams, has made sure that the excitement for the beginning of a new season of the cash-rich league has not diminished a bit.
With the eight initial franchises having already announced their retained players’ list ahead of the mega auction next month, the to-be debutant franchises Ahmedabad and Lucknow have added three players each to their squad as well.
Both the new franchises have also appointed their respective coaching staff for the upcoming season. While the team of Andy Flower (head coach), Vijay Dahiya (assistant coach), and Gautam Gambhir (mentor) are set to take charge of the Lucknow Super Giants, it is former India pacer Ashish Nehra (head coach) alongside Gary Kirsten (mentor), who have been signed by the Ahmedabad franchise.
Moreover, Ahmedabad have also roped in former England batter Vikram Solanki as the team’s Director of Cricket for their debut season. Solanki, has also reportedly picked former India cricketer Aashish Kapoor as the team’s spin coach cum talent scout.
Who is Aashish Kapoor?
As per the Cricket website Cricbuzz, Aashish Kapoor has been roped in primarily for his services as a talent scout for the franchise, while his services as a spin bowling coach comes secondary.
Kapoor has played a total of 4 Tests and 17 ODIs for India from 1994-2000, and is currently with the Bahrain side who are busy with their preparation for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup qualifiers in Oman. The former off-spinner has also played for quite a few states across a total of 128 First-Class and 93 List-A matches in the domestic circuit in Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Tripura.
“The talks with Aashish are underway and the franchise’s director of cricket Vikram Solanki is in touch with him,” said a source in the know, confirming the mutual interest of both the player and franchise.
He had also been the head of the national junior selection committee till last year, and it is perhaps his first-hand knowledge regarding India’s pool of talent at the junior-level that has most likely earned him the position in the franchise.
As far as the IPL is concerned, the 50-year-old had worked with the Delhi Daredevils during the first seven years of the league.
