Couldn’t have asked for a better start: Yo Mahesh

And, Yo Mahesh, in the company of Subramaniam Badrinath, had a fairly successful spell with DD in what was his maiden coaching assignment. Despite the absence of its marquee signing and regular skipper Ravichandran Ashwin, Dindigul finished a creditable third after losing its Qualifier 2 battle against eventual champion Chepauk Super Gillies.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better place to begin my coaching career. The TNPL is a good platform for budding coaches. I learnt a lot while working with head coach Badrinath, who is well experienced. He mentored me during my time at DD,” Yo Mahesh told DT Next while talking about his debut coaching stint in TNPL Season 5.

“We didn’t have big names in the team. We had guys with decent amount of experience at different levels. So, I had lots of scope to work with them. The boys responded well too. I would say that we started as one of the underdogs in the League. Coming third at the end was a pretty good achievement,” said Yo Mahesh.

Having retired as a player from top-level cricket only about seven months ago, former Tamil Nadu medium pacer Yo Mahesh revealed that he couldn’t resist thinking about his return to the field. It was the bowling-friendly pitches at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here which lit his eyes up.

“The wickets were so good for fast bowling, with bounce and carry. Initially, the ball seamed a lot. On two to three occasions, I thought about getting back to playing (laughs). In the first half of TNPL 2021, I couldn’t control my emotions. As a coach, you can’t control everything that happens on the field. I struggled to an extent in that aspect,” added Yo Mahesh, who turned out for Super Gillies and the now-defunct iDream Karaikudi Kaalai as a player in the TNPL.

Yo Mahesh is also a commentator for a leading broadcaster and was behind the microphone for the TNPL Season 5 final between Chepauk and Ruby Trichy Warriors last week. Asked if he plans to balance both coaching and commentating in the near future, the 33-year-old answered in the affirmative.

“When you are a coach, you wouldn’t be having commitments the entire year. Commentary came to me by chance and it was totally unexpected. Coaching will be my first priority, but at the same time I don’t want to leave my role as a commentator. In the long run, coaching is what I want to do,” signed off Yo Mahesh.