The Indian Premier League (IPL) is one of the most competitive T20 tournaments in the world and also one of the most popular ones, with millions invested in each franchise.
The stakes are always very high, with all teams fighting every year for the coveted trophy. With a combination of young and experienced players from all over the world, the coaching role becomes really important to ensure coordination, camaraderie, and performance.
Here, we look at the head coaches of each side during the 2026 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Former New Zealand batter and captain Stephen Fleming has been associated with CSK as head coach for a very long time. He initially joined the coaching team in 2009, when he retired as a player. Fleming also played for the Super Kings during the first-ever IPL edition. He has also coached the franchise’s sister outfits, such as the Joburg Super Kings in the SA20 and the Texas Super Kings in Major League Cricket.
Under Fleming’s leadership, CSK won their first IPL title in 2011. They haven’t looked back since, having reached a record ten IPL finals. Alongside the Mumbai Indians, CSK have won the IPL trophy the most number of times (five), all under Fleming’s guidance.
The 52-year-old is known to be a highly astute operator in the dugout, with strong tactical acumen and a focus on youth development. He prefers a player-centric approach, prioritising individual strengths over forced team cohesion to optimise performance.
Fleming’s coaching staff for the 2026 season boasts the likes of Michael Hussey as batting coach, Sridharan Sriram and Eric Simons as bowling coaches, and Rajiv Kumar as assistant coach, among others.
Former Indian batter Hemang Badani was appointed the head coach of the Delhi Capitals ahead of the 2025 IPL season, with former coach Ricky Ponting switching his allegiance to the Punjab Kings.
Badani was a reliable player in the middle order in his playing days and an exceptional fielder. His coaching journey has been full of success too. He guided the Chepauk Super Gillies to four titles in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) and has coached in the SA20 as well, having played a pivotal role in SunRisers Eastern Cape’s title triumph. In the International League T20 (ILT20), he guided the Dubai Capitals to the final in 2024.
The 49-year-old has a calm demeanour and possesses sharp tactical acumen. He focuses on each player’s strengths and assigns clear roles and responsibilities to everyone in the team.
Badani’s coaching staff for the 2026 IPL season will have Ian Bell as assistant coach, Munaf Patel as bowling coach, and Venugopal Rao as the Director of Cricket.
Former Indian left-arm pacer, Ashish Nehra is the current head-coach of the Gujarat Titans.
Nehra joined the Titans ahead of the 2022 IPL season and led them to the title in his very first season. Nehra also became the first Indian head-coach to win the IPL. Since then, Titans have been one of the most consistent teams in the league – runners-up in 2023 and making the play-offs in three out of four seasons.
Nehra has been known to be a proactive, tactical, hands-on coach. He likes to directly communicate with the players and the captain and is mostly seen animated on the sidelines during games more similar to football coaches rather than cricket coaches who sit in the dugout.
Nehra has been very successful with the Titans in the short span of time he has been working with them and his focus on creating a relaxed environment to ensure players perform at their optimum level has worked well for the Titans.
The GT coaching staff has been strengthened with some illustrious names like Matthew Hayden as the batting coach along with Parthiv Patel, Aashish Kapoor and Narendra Negi as assistant coaches for Nehra.
Former Sri Lankan great Mahela Jayawardene is the current head-coach of the Mumbai Indians. He joined MI as a head-coach in 2017 after the departure of Ricky Ponting.
MI is one of the most successful franchises in the history of IPL. Alongside CSK they have won the most IPL titles. Jayawardene has returned to the head-coach role for the 2026 season, his role being changed from Global Head of Cricket to head-coach.
Jayawardene has been a very respected figure in the MI dugout and is known for his superb strategies and planning. Top MI players like Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah have been lavish in their praise for the Sri Lankan top order batter. His coaching style is mainly data-driven and his focus is on creating a calm and supportive environment to foster top performances. He also possesses great man-management skills which are key when you are dealing with top players.
Under his leadership and guidance, MI won three titles in 2017, 2019 and 2020. Since then, their performances have dipped. With Jayawardene back guiding the team, MI will definitely produce strong performances this season.
The MI coaching staff also has former West Indian and MI legend Kieron Pollard as the batting coach, Lasith Malinga and Paras Mhambrey as the bowling coaches and Carl Hopkinson as the fielding coach for the 2026 IPL season.
Former Indian player Abhishek Nayar has been appointed as the head-coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the 2026 IPL season.
Nayar has been part of the KKR franchise since 2018. He was earlier tasked with scouting and recruitment strategy for the Kolkata franchise and has also performed for them in the assistant coach role.
The departure of former head-coach Chandrakant Pandit was imminent after a dismal 2025 season and Nayar was seen as the perfect replacement. Nayar has already worked with most of the KKR players and has guided them in managing expectations, performing under pressure and fostering a positive and winning mentality.
Nayar’s coaching philosophy relies on building trust, improving the technical aspects of the game, mentoring players closely and developing youth talent.
The KKR coaching staff consists of several stalwarts of the game. Former Australian batting legend Shane Watson is the assistant coach, New Zealander veteran Tim Southee is the bowling coach, Dishant Yagnik is the fielding coach and former West Indian allrounder Dwayne Bravo has taken up the mentorship role.
Former Australian opener Justin Langer was appointed as the head-coach of the Lucknow Super Giants ahead of the 2024 IPL season.
Alongside the Gujarat Titans, LSG has been one of the relatively new franchises in the IPL but in stark contrast to the success that GT has achieved, LSG haven’t been able to make an impact. However, the Lucknow franchise will be hoping for a change in the 2026 season.
Langer was part of a highly successful and dominant Australian team and alongside Matthew Hayden, he played a massive part in that success at the top of the order. He has also been the head-coach of the Australian Men’s cricket team so he possesses a fair amount of top coaching experience in a high-pressure environment.
Langer is an old-fashioned coach who likes to instill discipline, grit and hard-work in his team as opposed to the relaxed, laid-back kind of approach modern coaches practice nowadays. Though this kind of approach has its pros and cons and could rub some players the wrong way, it also builds character and mentality to perform under pressure.
The LSG Coaching staff also has former players fully-equipped to assist Langer. Former South African allrounder Lance Klusener is the assistant coach, Matthew Mott is the batting coach, Bharat Arun is the bowling coach, Kiwi batter Kane Williamson is the strategic advisor and Abhay Sharma is the fielding coach.
One of the most successful Australian captains, Ricky Ponting switched his allegiance to the Punjab Kings from the Delhi Capitals ahead of the 2025 IPL season.
Ponting has been a successful coach in the IPL as he had already achieved success multiple times with the Mumbai Indians before mentoring the Delhi Capitals. In his very first season with PBKS, he led them to their first-ever IPL final. Though they failed at the final hurdle against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), PBKS was one of the best teams to watch last season.
Ponting is known to be an intense, player-focused coach with an aggressive mentality. He tries to instill a winning culture in the team with clear communication and also likes to help players in improving the technical aspect of their game. He also focuses on high-level preparation while taking into account the physical, technical and mental aspects of the game and encourages open communication to understand players and what kind of coaching they require.
The PBKS coaching staff is not as expansive as some of the other franchises as they only consist of Brad Haddin as the assistant coach, James Hopes as the fast-bowling coach and Sairaj Bahutule as the spin bowling coach.
Former Sri Lankan batter and wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara has been appointed in a dual role for the Rajasthan Royals after the 2025 season. A legend of the game and one of the best all-format batters of his generation, Sangakkara has been quite successful in his coaching career as well.
Post the departure of Rahul Dravid, Sangakkara has taken the mantle of head-coach role alongside the Director of Cricket role for the Rajasthan Royals. Sangakkara is not new to RR as he has been with the franchise since 2021. He also helped RR reach the finals in 2023.
Sangakkara’s coaching style is similar to his personality – calm, relaxed and inclusive. He invites players to share ideas and opinions to create a cohesive and positive environment. He doesn’t believe in long training sessions, instead focuses on smart and effective methods to improve players.
The RR coaching staff also has other experienced personnel to help Sangakkara. Former Indian player Vikram Rathour is the assistant coach, former Kiwi quickie Shane Bond is the fast-bowling coach and Trevor Penney is the assistant coach.
Former Zimbabwean legendary batter and wicket-keeper Andy Flower became the head-coach of RCB ahead of the 2024 IPL season.
Flower already has an illustrious coaching resumé, having led the England Men’s cricket team to incredible success in a five-year coaching stint. He was also the ‘Technical Director of Elite Coaching’ in England where he mentored county coaches in England. He also coached in other IPL franchises before joining RCB.
He brought the same winning culture to RCB, guiding them to their first-ever IPL title after 17 seasons of trying to win the coveted title.
Flower is a coach focused on analytics who likes to utilise data metrics for improving player performance. He also promotes accountability for mistakes to build a team that can perform under pressure. Flower also trains players to be versatile and capable of performing in multiple roles and positions and likes having a mix of experienced and young talent in his squad.
The RCB Coaching staff also has Richard Halsall as Assistant Coach, Dinesh Kartik as batting coach and mentor, Omkar Salvi as the bowling coach and Malolan Rangarajan as the Head of Scouting and fielding coach.
Former Kiwi bowler, Daniel Vettori was appointed as the head-coach of the Sunrisers Hyderabad ahead of the 2024 IPL season.
Vettori already has an impressive catalogue in his coaching career, having coached RCB from 2014-2018 earlier, assistant-coach of the Australian Men’s team and also coached several teams in other T20 leagues around the world.
Vettori is another modern coach who relies on analytics and data-driven approach for enhancing player performances. He also possesses tactical nous and focuses on aggressive and result-driven performances. As a top-class bowler in his playing days, he can also assist the bowlers in changing their mentality and helping with variations and bowling as per the conditions.
In his very first season with the SRH, he guided them to an IPL final with his team playing the most attacking brand of cricket, often scoring 220+ runs at will. Though SRH narrowly failed to win the title, they are now one considered as one of the most aggressive batting sides in the league.
SRH also has an able coaching staff to assist their head-coach with Simon Helmot as the assistant coach, Hariesh Jaykumar as the batting coach, Varun Aaron as the bowling coach and Muttiah Muralitharan as the spin bowling coach.
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