'My approach is to just let them be'- Ashish Nehra on coaching an IPL franchise

Gujarat Titans coach Ashish Nehra opens up on the challenges of coaching a team in the IPL. The 2022 IPL winning coach and former World Champion, who has had a successful stint in the tournament in the three years as a coach.

Ashish Nehra took over the responsibility as the head coach of Gujarat Titans in 2022 and went on to win the title in 2022. They were the finalists in 2023. Nehra has discussed the challenges of coaching the franchise and spoke on the need for stability for the franchise in a fast-paced tournament like the IPL. He also brought up how many changes are made in the squad after the auction and how much effort the management has to make to build the team from scratch in the global event.

“For me, I don’t see things only from a coach’s perspective. Even if I put myself in the shoes of a player, in such an environment—the hectic IPL, a long yet fast-paced tournament—the first thing players need is stability. That’s how I feel. My approach is to just let them be; nobody is judging them here. First, they need to settle down, especially when they join a new franchise,” Nehra spoke exclusively on JioHotstar.

"The nature of the sport is such that you retain four to five players, and in the auction, you might get one or two key additions. So, after every three years, 40-50% of the squad is new. That means you have to put in extra effort to build the team again, just like the situation we are in now,” the 45-year-old added.

There’s no bio-bubble anymore. If there was one, it would have been easier: Nehra

Ashish Nehra further stated, mentioning how it was easier to build a team during the bio bubble, where he said that it was easier to build chemistry among the players, for which they have only a week before the tournament. Nehra also mentioned that the process of managing a team is to keep it simple with the players, but also opened up on how challenging it is to do that.

“There’s no bio-bubble anymore. If there was one, it would have been easier. But in Ahmedabad, it’s good that people don’t go out much, so in a way, it still feels like a bubble. The challenge is—how do you spend time and build chemistry with new players in just a week? It’s about clarity—on the field and off the field. Just the basic things. I don’t think there’s any rocket science to it. I always say, keep it simple. It’s a very straightforward task—but maybe, keeping it simple isn’t always that simple,” Nehra concluded.