Delhi Daredevils look to rope in Jason Gillespie as head coach

The Indian Express has learnt that Gillespie himself has shown interest in being part of an IPL team a few months ago. Gillespie has been part of the IPL in the past, after having been roped in as the bowling coach for Kings XI Punjab in 2011. Sources at the Delhi franchise, meanwhile, confirmed that talks are indeed on, but nothing has been finalised yet.

“He brings a lot to the table. He has vast experience behind him. He has shown keenness to be a part of Delhi team and talks are still on,” a Delhi Daredevils official said.

Impressive CV

Gillespie played 71 Tests and 97 ODIs in a career spanning a decade for the Australians during their indomitable reign as the foremost cricket team in the world, forming a deadly new-ball pairing with Glenn McGrath. He then made a very successful switch to coaching, especially at Yorkshire, where he lifted the struggling county from the second division in his first season before helping them win back-to-back County Championship titles in 2014 and 2015.

He was also attributed with playing a significant role in the development of Yorkshire cricketers who then went on to become England mainstays like Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and David Willey. There were even talks of him taking over the England job following the sacking of Peter Moores last year but it didn’t work out. Since ending his time with Yorkshire and returning to his hometown of Adelaide last year, he’s continued to be in high demand as coach.

In addition to being touted to become Australia’s bowling coach at some point, Gillespie’s already worked this year in an interim capacity with both Kent — as bowling coach — and the Papua New Guinea national team — as head coach. He was also named as bowling coach of the Australia A team to tour South Africa, which unfortunately got scrapped owing to the pay dispute crisis Down Under.

Recently, during an interaction with the media in Bengaluru at the National Cricket Academy Gillespie insisted that he is still committed to the Adelaide Strikers. “I do a little bit of work for Cricket Australia. I’ll be looking to see what other opportunities are out there in T20 leagues around the world,” Gillespie said. The pacer was in the city with other five Australian coaches to conduct a re-certification programme for Level 3 Indian coaches. In other Delhi Daredevils related news, India’s former pace spearhead, Zaheer Khan, has confirmed that he’s keen on playing in next year’s IPL.