If you offend the Indian coaches, they might drop you, says Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag, the former Indian batsman is one of the most popular faces of cricket in the subcontinent. After his retirement from the sport, he became very active on social media.

Recently, his name was doing rounds in the media for several reasons. Be it his comments on India Vs Pakistan in Champions Trophy or his two-line resume sent as the application for the new head coach of India. In the thick of all these stories, the fearless batsman got candid in an interview with UC News. 

It was no surprise that he was loaded with questions about the Indian Cricket team and their challenges with the head coach. He took the chance to explain that the relationship between the coach and the individual player is very crucial for the team to thrive.

The role of the coach is to learn about the weaknesses of the players and work on them for the better performance of the players. He explained that it is important that the coach and the players share a relationship where they can trust each other and keep their conversations private.

Questions about Anil Kumble and his stint as the coach were bound to arise.

Sehwag saw Anil Kumble play as his senior followed by him playing under the captaincy of the latter. He even credited Kumble for his own comeback.

Having said that, Sehwag was tentative about expressing his views on the Karnataka-born bowler’s role as a coach. Since he never played under Kumble's upskilling, Sehwag found it best to not comment on his style. However, he directed the conversation to the achievements of the Indian Cricket team during the tenure of Kumble.

“I cannot comment on his job as the coach. It is highly unlikely that someone else will be able to fit into his shoes for this role. His personal achievements as a bowler and as the coach are too sizeable to be anyone else's cup of tea” said Sehwag.

Former Indian batsman, Virender Sehwag, discusses the role of the coach

Speaking from the perspective of a player, a junior and an individual, Sehwag stated that Kumble is undoubtedly the best coach for the Indian team. He drew evidence from team India's spectacular performance in the past one-year under Kumble's guidance to stress on positives he brings to the table.

Sehwag, however, spoke about his own equations with his coach during his playing days. He shared that his best experience was with Gary Kirsten whom he admired for his management skills. Sehwag was asked if he preferred an Indian coach or a Foreign coach for the national cricket team. Comparing the two different perspectives, he listed down the benefits and drawbacks of having either of the two for the role.

He stated that foreign coaches face restrictions in the communication due to language. Usually, English is the only medium in which they can talk to the players and that may limit the comfort level of few players. On the other hand, things turn out to be quite different with Indian coaches. Sehwag went on to say that with Indian coaches there are no language restrictions. They can communicate better with the team owing to their familiarity with Indian languages.

The one reason why Sehwag thinks that foreign coaches have an upper-hand is that of their approach towards the players. They establish a friendly relationship with the players and help them overcome all sorts of challenges by being their confidant. In this equation, the players are free to jest around as the coach allows it to be taken with a light heart.

However, things are a little different with Indian coaches in this respect. “If your jokes offend Indian coaches you might get dropped,” chuckled the Nawab.

 

The entire “new coach of Indian Cricket Team” issue brought its fair share of controversies for Sehwag too. When BCCI invited veterans to apply for the post of the head coach, news about Sehwag's unique application started doing rounds in the media.

It was rumoured that Sehwag sent in a two-line resume to BCCI, thereby taking the entire cricket fraternity by storm.

Some people thought of this step as courageously amusing whereas some termed it as an arrogant act. There were also a few of them who ignored it as they conveniently brushed aside any possibility of him being selected as the new coach. Amidst all these news, Sehwag was clueless about the source of all these tales.

“I have no idea what were the sources of all these rumours. If only media houses could name their sources, I would go and ask if a two-line resume earned jobs then Virender Sehwag, my name, should have been enough,” said Sehwag taking a dig at all the rumours.

He also talked about his equations with Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. Since he played with both these former Indian cricketing legends, he was asked to determine his favourite between them.

Sehwag then went on to narrate that it was a different experience with both the players. While Ganguly is his favourite captain, Sachin is his favourite player. He then continued to talk about his favourite opponents. He recounted that he enjoyed dismantling Pakistani bowlers and Shoaib Akhtar was his favourite bowler from that team. 

Almost synonymous to controversies, Sehwag is a name that brings domination along with himself. Much to his disappointment, a lot of his acts and words have backfired mercilessly in recent times. Having said that, it can't be denied that he is a name that carries its own legacy in the history of world cricket.