Former England football manager Gareth Southgate spotted watching IPL match

Dubai: Not many were aware that former England football manager Gareth Southgate was a big fan of cricket until he was spotted at a match in the Indian Premier League. The man who played a crucial role as the England coach was spotted recently cheering for Rajasthan Royals during the match against Kolkata Knight Riders at the iconic Eden Gardens.

Southgate revealed during a chat with the IPL media that he was a huge fan of the sport. “I have always been a fan of cricket,” he said with a big grin. “When I was a young kid, I used to watch Test matches all day long. I’m going back to the era of Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar.

“Then over the years, I got to know a lot of the players when I was playing for England, and I knew a lot of the England team. Last year, Ben Stokes came and talked to the England [football] team and so, also with a lot of the coaches, you know, you learn a lot across sports.”

Southgate said that watching other sports always help coaches as they get to learn so much off the field.

“Every sport is evolving rapidly. So much that coaches share, medical teams share, and, yeah, it's always fascinating to go outside your field and learn from other people. You face so many similar problems and of course they are two world-leading players and incredible figures within the squad, so it's been a pleasure to spend time with them,” he said.