Cricket Coaches in India from the time of inception of Indian Cricket played a most important role in regulating the team and its spirit. Some of the most popular cricket coaches in India are Ajit Wadekar, Sandeep Patil, Madan Lal, Anshuman Gaekwad, Kapil Dev, John Wright, Greg Chappell, Ravi Shastri, Gary Kirsten, and Duncan Fletcher.

Ajit Laxman Wadekar (1992-1996)
Ajit Laxman Wadekar is a former international cricketer who played for India between 1966 and 1974. Described as an "aggressive batsman", Wadekar made his first-class debut in 1958, before making his foray into international cricket in 1966. Ajit Laxman Wadekar batted at "Number three" position. He was considered to be one of the finest slip fielders. Wadekar also captained the Indian cricket team which won the series in England and West Indies. The Government of India honoured him with the Arjuna Award (1967) and Padmashri (1972), India`s fourth highest civilian honour.

Sandeep Patil (1996)
Sandeep Madhusudan Patil also known as Sandeep Patil is a former Indian cricketer, Indian national age group cricket manager and former Kenya national team coach, who guided the minnows to the semi-finals of the 2003 World Cup. Sandeep Madhusudan Patil was a hard-hitting middle order batsman and an occasional medium pace bowler. Sandeep Madhusudan Patil was the coach of Mumbai Champs in the Indian Cricket League, but he returned to the mainstream, when he cut ties with the unofficial league in 2009. Sandeep Madhusudan Patil has been appointed as the director of National Cricket Academy (NCA) by the BCCI, replacing Dav Whatmore. Sandeep Madhusudan Patil was appointed as the new chief of the BCCI Selection Committee on 27 September 2012.

Madan Lal Udhouram Sharma (1996-1997)
Madan Lal, the right-hand batsman and right-arm medium pace bowler, consolidated the sway of the Indian Cricket Team, over other opponent cricket teams. This man of calibre was born on March 20, 1951, at Amritsar, in India. His excellence is visible in the field of first-class cricket. He has a treasure-chest, containing 10,000 runs, and 600 wickets. He played vital roles, both in the arenas of Test cricket and one-day internationals. His talent got its finest expression, when his marvellous bowling gifted India, its win over England, at Mumbai in 1981.

Madan Lal, as the saviour of nation`s reputation and prestige was discernible, when he fantastically, forged ahead to 74, against Pakistan at Bengaluru in 1983. This man himself attested his genius in the crucial and historical one-day Final of the 1983 World Cup. He promptly grabbed three important wickets, and left the batting strength of the West Indies Team shattered. He is respected as one of the heroes, who paved the way for India to reach the desired destination of the World Cup, in 1983 Final. Madan Lal, rose to prominence, owing to his impressive feats in the domestic cricket. He was invited to join the outgoing team, for the tour of England, 1974. He shone as a significant player of the Indian Team, till the 1977-78 expedition to Australia.

Anshuman Gaekwad (1997-1999)
Anshuman Dattajirao Gaekwad who is also known as Anshuman Gaekwad was an Indian Coach born on 23rd September 1952. He is a former Indian cricketer and two-time Indian national cricket coach. He played in 40 Test matches and 15 One Day Internationals. Anshuman Dattajirao Gaekwad was known for his defensive mindset against pace bowlers, which became a high priority when the West Indian pace bowlers dominated world cricket. Anshuman Dattajirao Gaekwad was nicknamed The Great Wall.

Kapil Dev (1999-2000)
Kapil Dev was a successful Indian coach in the late 1990`s was a right-arm pace bowler noted for his graceful action and potent outswinger, and was India`s main strike bowler for most of his career. Kapil Dev captained the Indian cricket team which won the 1983 Cricket World Cup. He named by Wisden as the Indian Cricketer of the Century in 2002. Kapil Dev was one of the greatest all-rounders of all time. He was also India`s national cricket coach for 10 months between October 1999 and August 2000.

John Wright (2000-2005)
John Geoffrey Wright better known as John Wright was a former New Zealand skipper who went on to have a reasonably successful tenure as the coach of the Indian cricket team. Wright and Saurav Ganguly enjoyed good success for most part of their tenure but things fell apart towards the end with Ganguly losing form and the other team members also putting up mediocre performances.

Wright made his international debut against England in 1978 and retired in 1993. He was decent success in both forms of the game with over 5,000 Test runs averaging 37.82 with the help of 12 Test centuries. 10 of Wright`s 12 tons were registered in New Zealand. In ODIs he scored close to 4,000 runs and accumulated 25,000 runs in his first-class career. He also played for Derbyshire. Wright mostly opened for the Kiwis and was a dogged batsman more in the Rahul Dravid mould. This former India coach was known for his unorthodox batting stance; he used to stand with his bat parallel to the ground. In addition to being the Indian coach, Wright also served as the coach of the World XI team that took on Australia in the much-hyped ICC Super Series 2005. The tournament turned out to be a disaster as the World Team lost both the Test and the ODIs.

Greg Chappell (2005-2007)
Gregory Stephen Chappell is a former coach of the Indian cricket team. One of the greatest Aussie batsmen, Greg Chappell played 87 Tests for Australia and led the side in 48 of those matches. Chappell has the unique distinction of scoring a century in both his first and last Test. A stylish cricketer, Gregory Stephen Chappell was known to score heavily on the leg side. He had the honour of captaining Australia in the two Centenary Tests played - one at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1977, and the other at Lord`s in 1980. There is no doubting that he was a great cricketer but his decision to ask his brother Trevor to bowl an underarm delivery in an ODI against New Zealand in 1981 drew him flak from all corners. Australia won the match but the Chappell`s decision went against the spirit of the game and is one of the lowest points in the history of the game. In hindsight, both accept it was a mistake but the incident still stands out as a sore thumb in his otherwise glorious career.

Ravi Shastri (2007)
Ravishankar Jayadritha Shastri was born on 27th May in the year 1962. He is a former Indian cricketer and captain. He was an all-rounder who batted right-handed and bowled left arm spin. He temporarily coached the Indian cricket team for their 2007 Bangladesh tour.

Gary Kirsten (2007-2011)
Gary Kirsten, a famous former South African cricketer was born on 23rd November 1967. He is also the World Cup winning coach of the Indian Cricket team. He played 185 ODI matches and 101 Test matches for South Africa between 1993 and 2004, mainly as an opening batsman. He was the head coach of the Indian Team from 2008 to 2011.

Duncan Fletcher (2011- to the present day)
Duncan Fletcher is a Zimbabwean ex-cricketer and the current coach of the Indian cricket team. He was the coach of the England cricket team from 1999-2007, and is credited with the resurgence of the England team in test cricket in the early years of the 2000s. Duncan Fletcher has been appointed as the coach of the India cricket team on 27 April 2011. Fletcher was one of the leading candidates for appointment as coach of the India national cricket team. Fletcher bagged the top job in the India national cricket team ahead of names like former New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming and former Zimbabwe skipper Andy Flower.