MUMBAI: Royal Challengers Bengaluru have roped in current Mumbai head coach Omkar Salvi, under whom the domestic giants clinched the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy in March and then the Irani Cup in October, as their fast bowling coach for the Indian Premier League's 2025 edition, TOI has learnt.
This will be the low-profile Salvi's second coaching stint in the IPL-he was previously the assistant bowling coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders. He had also earlier been the bowling coach with Mumbai. Interestingly, his brother Avishkar is the bowling coach of the Indian women's cricket team and was the head coach of Punjab (they won the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy under him last season).
According to sources in the RCB, Salvi will take up the role in Virat Kohli's IPL team after the conclusion of the domestic season in March. IPL-2025 is likely to begin from the last week of March, post Salvi's contract period with the Mumbai Cricket Association.
Salvi joined Mumbai as their head coach before the 2023-24 season, and guided the domestic giants to their 42nd Ranji Trophy title in March, when they beat Vidarbha by 102 runs in the final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. It was Mumbai's first Ranji title after eight years, and the MCA subsequently decided to retain Salvi for another season. Thereafter, in October, Mumbai clinched the Irani Cup after 27 years when they beat Rest of India at Lucknow, thus achieving a 'double triumph' after a long time.
Before the Ranji final, Mumbai captain Ajinkya Rahane, while batting for low-profile local coaches like Salvi in domestic cricket, had said, "It is really good to have a coach like Omkar (Salvi) with us. It shows that you don't need high-profile or flashy coaches to be around the team. You can still be under the radar. You can still stay low-profile and get the best out of each and every player."
In terms of first-class experience, Salvi, who is in his 40s, has played just one match for Railways in 2005, but the man has a knack of being popular amongst the players, and has now earned plenty of respect as a fine coach. Presently, with Salvi in charge, Mumbai, who scored their third outright win this season, are at the third spot in Elite Group A, with 22 points from five games.
RCB, who made the playoffs last year, have never won the IPL title. Salvi's task will be tough considering that bowling has always been a problem with RCB, especially with the short boundaries at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
