Roles & Responsibilities of an IPL Head Coach
- Auction and retention planning: working with the owners and analysts to decide which players to retain, target and bid for within the salary purse.
- Team selection and strategy: picking the playing XI and the four overseas players, and planning match-ups, batting orders and Impact Player substitutions.
- Leading the support staff: coordinating batting, bowling, fielding, strength and conditioning, and analytics coaches.
- Player development: improving uncapped Indian players in particular, who often decide how a season goes.
- Working with the captain: setting game plans before matches and reviewing them afterwards.
- Culture and man-management: keeping an international dressing room of 20+ players focused over a two-month season.
Ricky Ponting’s IPL Coaching Career
Ponting won the IPL as Mumbai Indians head coach in 2015. He took charge of Delhi in 2018 and led them to their first IPL final in 2020, plus top-two league finishes in 2020 and 2021. After leaving Delhi in 2024, he joined Punjab Kings on a four-year contract from the 2025 season.
IPL franchises do not publish coaching salaries. The figures above come from media reports and should be read as estimates.