5 overseas candidates who should have applied for the position of India Head Coach
The spat between the present Indian skipper Virat Kohli and coach Anil Kumble is getting more and more bitter with every passing day. Although Kumble deserves an extension based on what he has achieved with the Indian team in the past one year, the differences in opinion between him and the players may result in his ousting.
India reached new heights in world cricket during Kumble’s tenure. Kohli and co. won every series in the past one year bar the two-match T20I series against the Windies in the USA. That series loss was a bit unfortunate as the first match was washed out by rain and they lost the second match narrowly by just a run. Other than that, it has been plain sailing for Kumble.
It seemed that the team was responding to him well, however, no one could have predicted what was going on behind the scenes – a cold war between the skipper and the coach.
According to reports, the Indian team has been affected by the rift between those two individuals and the BCCI has chosen to replace Kumble with a new coach. Six candidates have been shortlisted for the post, however, there could have been better ones had they applied for the position. Here we take a look at five of them.
#1 Stephen Fleming
Fleming was one of the most prolific batsmen in New Zealand’s cricket history. 15,205 runs in 391 international matches that include 17 centuries and 95 half-centuries are a testimony to that fact. After retiring from international cricket, he played for the Chennai Super Kings in the inaugural edition of the IPL.
However, he retired from all forms of the sport the very next year and became the coach of the franchise. He spent six successful years with them, winning the IPL in 2010 and 2011 and also the CLT20 in 2010. After the CSK franchise was suspended from playing in the IPL for two years beginning from 2016, Fleming became the coach of the Rising Pune Supergiant.
The RPS franchise too made it to the finals of the IPL in the 2017 edition – in his second year as a coach. His coaching experience is not limited to just the IPL. He also coached the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League after they signed him up for the role in 2015.