Sahara Pune Warriors, the Pune franchise of Indian Premier League (IPL) is delighted to announce the appointment of its Head and Assistant Coach for IPL season 4. The legendry Australian opener and Coach of the Australian world cup winning side of 1999, Mr. Geoff Robert Marsh has been appointed the Head coach of the team while former England all rounder Mr. Dermot Reeve has been appointed the Assistant Coach. The announcement was done by Mr. Subrata Roy Sahara, Managing Worker and Chairman, Sahara India Pariwar for his IPL franchise at the Sahara Headquarters with both Mr. Geoff Marsh and Mr. Dermot Reeve present at the conference.

While making this announcement Mr. Subrata Roy Sahara said, “We are delighted that we have been able to hand the reins of the team to two of the ablest professionals in the field. Geoff, with his wealth of experience and knowledge will be the captain of the ship while Dermot with his aggressive approach, enthusiasm and experience will assist him. Along with this they are excellent human beings and I am confident that this combination of the vast experience and aggressive approach will tremendously help in making the Sahara Pune Warriors a well equipped and strong team”
Mr. Geoff Marsh, delighted at the appointment, said, “The IPL is the most exciting thing to happen to world cricket and Sahara Pune Warriors is in turn the most exciting thing to happen to IPL. I am extremely excited about this opportunity.” When asked about the retention policy, Marsh said, “As a new franchise we really hope that the BCCI gives us a level playing field and that all players are allowed to go into an open auction.” Reeve, echoing similar sentiments suggested, “Only then will the standard of the tournament be maintained and the principle of fair play and natural justice adhered to.”

Mr. Geoffrey Robert Marsh, the legendry Australian cricketer, coach and selector, as a cricketer played 50 Test matches and over 100 one-day Internationals for Australia, as an opening batsman. Marsh was a steady, solid right-handed opening batsman. He made his first-class debut for Western Australia as a nineteen year old in the 1977-1978 Sheffield Shield season. Marsh played international cricket over a seven-year period, ending in 1992.  As a coach he was in charge when Australia won the 1999 Cricket World Cup in England, guiding the team to seven consecutive victories to help them win the tournament.  Marsh was chosen as coach of the Australian national Test and one-day international teams in July 1996, playing a vital part in continuing his country’s positions as the top cricketing nation of the time. He left the Australian coaching job and soon became a selector for the Australian Cricket Board (now Cricket Australia). In 2001 he was appointed as the coach of the Zimbabwean national team.

Mr. Dermot Reeve best known as an English all-rounder has made his first class cricket debut for Sussex in 1983 and played 29 one-day Internationals, including the World Cup Final in 1992 for England and 3 Test Matches for England. He is awarded with Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1995 and only person to win 3 ‘Man of the Match’ awards in Lord’s finals. He served as Hong Kong’s Cricket Coach in 1994/95, as a T20 bowling coach for New Zealand in 2008, as a Central districts coach 2008-09 and 2009-10 and Raigad Royals coach 2009 and 2010

About Sahara India Pariwar
Sahara India Pariwar is a multi-business conglomerate with diversified business interests that include financial services, housing finance, mutual funds, life insurance, city development, real estate activities, print and television media, film production, sports, information technology, health care, tourism, hospitality and consumer products.
The sponsor of Indian Cricket and Hockey, Sahara India Pariwar, had earlier, adopted Indian Boxing, Wrestling and Archery and very recently, Indian Shooting in addition to covering support of a total of 56 sportsmen in these four games until after London Olympics 2012. The group, in order to uplift sports at domestic and grass root level, supports the legendary Calcutta Football League, Sheesh Mahal Cricket Tournament and many other sports at the national, state and district levels. The group has extended its sponsorship to the Uttar Pradesh senior cricket team which represents the state in Ranji and all other domestic tournaments. Earlier, in the year 2009, Sahara had initiated ‘The Sahara Indian Sports Awards’ with an intention to bring together all sports, including those which are very popular and also those which are not so popular, together on a common platform to recognize and honour the achievements of Indian sportspersons who have taken the pride of the nation to the highest level and kept the tricolor flying high. The awards are aimed to provide a forum of encouragement to young sporting talents and motivate them to bring laurels to the nation and sports. Recently, the Sahara Group, under its company Sahara Adventure Sports Limited, has bagged the franchise for Pune IPL team by making the highest bid ever in IPL. The unveiling of the logo identity of the team was witnessed by a huge gathering of more than 40,000 enthusiastic crowds.

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