Gujarat Titans may have lost Sunday’s IPL 2026 final against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, but after yet another impressive season, former India international Sanjay Manjrekar said that head coach Ashish Nehra should be kept in mind for the role of India white-ball coach in the future.
“If at all India is looking for a T20 coach, then this is a guy who’s given the results. He has an amazing record,” Manjrekar told Sportstar’s Insight Edge podcast.
Nehra has been head coach at Gujarat Titans since its formation in 2022, and has led the franchise to immense success. It won the title in its debut season and has reached the Playoffs in three of the four subsequent seasons (including two final appearances).
Manjrekar praised the manner in which Nehra handled the team. “Ashish Nehra is your hardcore street-smart cricketer. If you talk cricket with him, he’s not somebody who will get too emotional, he’ll just be able to look at the problems that his team has,” he said.
“He is a sharp reader of the game, and somebody who doesn’t think too much outside cricket or trying to please somebody and playing these games that you want to play to survive or keep certain people happy, and I think that is where the players see it.
Manjrekar also praised Nehra’s ability to remain calm and not let success get to his head, saying, “You can see that he doesn’t get affected by success as a coach. He wouldn’t want to take too much credit, he’s just a simple guy doing the hard yards quite easily and seems to love it.”
However, he was clear that if he were to join the team, it should only be as a head coach, not as a bowling coach, despite the strength of the bowling unit he has cultivated at GT.
“I don’t think he should come in as a bowling coach, because if he’s a guy who’s been the head coach and has got his team to do so well under different captains, then if he comes in he should come in as the head coach,” he opined.
Published on Jun 01, 2026
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