Five challenges that await Ravi Shastri as India's new head coach
Indian cricket’s recent head coach saga was a long-drawn out and noisy affair. It started right at the cusp of the ICC Champions Trophy in England and breathed its last yesterday. Or so you would hope.
Let us look at the events that unfolded before, during and after the coach-selection drama and how they marked an embarrassing chapter of Indian cricket
First, reports of an alleged feud between captain Virat Kohli and the then-coach Anil Kumble started flying off the grapevine a week before the Champions Trophy. In his first press conference of the tournament, Kohli vehemently denied the reports, saying they harboured no truth whatsoever and were just a feeble attempt by the media to create a ruckus before the tournament.
Meanwhile, the BCCI began accepting applications for the position of the head-coach instead of simply renewing Kumble’s contract, in spite of the exceptional results that the Bangalorean had achieved in his 12-month tenure. Virender Sehwag, Tom Moody, Lalchand Rajput, Dodda Ganesh and Richard Pybus were the applicants for the job, with Kumble getting a direct entry into the selection process.
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What followed was a colossal defeat for India at the hands of arch-rivals Pakistan in the Champions Trophy final. Its aftermath was felt two days later, when Kumble stepped down from his position, citing ‘untenable’ relations with the captain. BCCI then extended the deadline for incoming applications, and an array of big names like Ravi Shastri, Lance Klusener, Venkatesh Prasad and Phil Simmons were suddenly thrown into the mix.
The list of candidates was eventually curtailed from ten to six with Shastri, Sehwag, Moody, Rajput, Pybus and Simmons being shortlisted for the job.
The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), comprising Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, interviewed all the six applicants on July 10, and the official announcement was made soon after.
While Shastri got what he wanted, his upcoming stint with the team has already been laden with sticks and stones. Here are five of the most prominent challenges that await the 55-year-old as the coach of the Indian cricket team:
#1 Dealing with the aftermath of Kumble’s exit
The aforementioned circumstances that arose at the cusp of Shastri’s appointment process have left a dark blotch on the country’s current cricketing framework. Questions are being asked, doubt is sprouting from every corner and there has been a general air of disproval and negativity around Shastri taking the national side’s reins from Kumble.
Driving the country’s focus back to cricket would be a top priority for the Indian coach.
He has to ensure that the psyche of his players is not affected due to the aura of negativity that has latched itself onto the team for almost two months now. A full-fledged tour of Sri Lanka awaits the Indian team, and Shastri cannot afford his players to focus on anything other than the intense cricket they will play over the next month and a half.
The tour will kick off with a Test match in Galle later this month. It will be followed by four Tests, three ODIs and a single T20I.
“My job is to make every player concentrate on his role in the team and think about nothing but the next game at his disposal,” said Shastri in a press conference today.