5 previous Indian coaches and their first series performances

Legendary Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble was recently appointed as Team India’s new head coach. As has been the case with other coaches that India have hired in the past, there are a large number of expectations that Kumble will need to meet as he takes up one of the most stressful yet rewarding jobs in cricket.

Since the turn of the millennium, the Indian team has had as many as 5 different coaches who have had contrasting fortunes during their respective tenures. Even the beginnings varied for each of them as some had a baptism by fire whereas others got time to warm up to the task.

Here we take a look at 5 previous Indian coaches and how they performed in their first assignment:

1. John Wright (2000-2005) – Zimbabwe tour of India, 2000/01

Wright shared a great bond with most Indian cricketers (Image Credit: Indiatimes)

Former New Zealand cricketer John Wright is primarily known in Indian cricketing circles as one of the best coaches the team has ever had. He and then skipper Sourav Ganguly are seen as the driving forces behind the complete transformation in the way the team played its cricket.

Wright was a little fortunate, though, in terms of getting an easier way to begin his journey as Team India’s coach. Although Zimbabwe used to be a pretty strong team back then, playing against them in home conditions was never really going to be a big problem for the Indians.

First came a 2-match Test series in which India won the first Test quite comprehensively by 7 wickets while the visitors fought hard to clinch a draw in the second one. In the 5-ODI series that followed, the Indian team thrashed the Zimbabweans by a 4-1 margin.