Greg Shipperd, the Delhi Daredevils coach, doesn’t feel coaches switching sides is any different from players turning out for different teams in any season. The coach, who will work with Victoria in the Champions League instead of the Daredevils, feels his absence from Daredevil’s dugout will not hurt their chances even a bit. Excerpts:
How easy or tough it was to choose Victoria over Delhi?
I’ve got a strong connection with the Daredevils but it never really got to a stage of ‘choosing’ because my contract with Victoria has tied me to them. So I’ve always known — as has Delhi — that I would be coaching the Bushrangers in the event that both teams qualified for the Champions League.
How do you see a situation where you find yourself coaching a team against one you had coached just six months back?
It’s a little unusual but then again, it’s common for coaches to move teams between seasons, and that means coaching against players whom they’d previously overseen.
Do you think it’s a situation with conflicting interests?
Cricketers can play for a variety of teams in any one season and this has always been the case. They may play for their club or grade cricket team, their domestic team, their national team and also in the IPL. At any of these levels they may be pitted against players who are teammates in another team. This doesn’t change their approach. It’s the same with coaches.
How much of an edge can you give Victoria when they play Delhi?
Every team will have players who have played in the same team as one or two of their opponents and they all do their homework in terms of vision analysis, so I don’t think there will be any real advantage. In Delhi’s case, they’ve got David Saker in their camp, who is a former Victoria player and current bowling coach. So the Daredevils will have as much on us as we do on them.
How much of an edge can you give Victoria when they play Delhi?
Every team will have players who have played in the same team as one or two of their opponents and they all do their homework in terms of vision analysis, so I don’t think there will be any real advantage. In Delhi’s case, they’ve got David Saker in their camp, who is a former Victoria player and current bowling coach. So the Daredevils will have as much on us as we do on them.
How different are two teams in their mental make-up?
I spend more time with the Bushrangers and coach them in three forms of the game so I’ve got a deeper pool of the squad. Equally, the cut and thrust of the IPL is pretty intense so you learn a lot about players in those pressure situations.