 Former Australian opening batsman and also the coach of the country, Geoff Marsh has been anointed as the coach of the IPL PUne side. The Sahara Pune Warriors as they are called, will be coached by Marsh, who will have the services
of Dermot Reeve as his assistant coach.
Marsh has had coached international teams in the past which includes Australia
and Zimbabwe. However, his favourites set of moments would be his twin World
Cup winning tournaments, one in 1987 which was won by Marsh, the batsman, and
the 1999 edition which he won as a coach. He was the coach of Zimbabwe between
2001 and 2004.
Marsh spoke to the media and said that his main responsibility to start off
with would be get the best culture possible from the players from various countries.
He added that a winning IPL side had the experience to play as a single unit.
Dermot Reeve, an ex-English all-rounder and a commentator and a coach, will
be the assistant coach. He had recently coached the New Zealand domestic
side of Central Districts in the T20 competition, and the side went on to win
the competition.
Marsh's two sons, Mitchell and Shaun have also been a part of the IPL, with
Mitchell having joined the tournament only last year, while Shaun having played
from the first edition.
Pune will look to form its teams of cricketers first, and this will happen
once the side has got an approval from the IPL about the players which are available
for the auction. There are rumours that not all the players will be available
for the auction, but some players may be allowed to be held back by the rest
of the IPL sides.
Sahara chairman Subrata Roy, "We feel that the two new teams should
get a [level] playing field. The rules said that each team can retain maximum
four players. We want that there should be an open auction so teams are balanced."
He also added that the sides should show more competition, and hence, it was
imperative that the new sides should be allowed to bid on all the available
players in the auction.
Roy also added that the Pune side will undertake tours of Latin America in
order to promote the game in those countries. He added that they would play
exhibition games against the clubs and the countries in that region.
Sahara had won the franchise rights of the Pune side for a sum of $370 million.
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