Ranking the 5 new Indian Cricket team coach candidates
The game of cricket is treated as a religion in India, a sport which unites a billion people and gets them on the same page, with the common goal of an Indian victory. Unsurprisingly, the cricket-fanatic nation magnifies each achievement or demerit of the sportspersons plying their cricketing trade.
The position of the captain and the coach has been of utmost importance in the ‘Gentleman’s Game’ and it assumes greater significance when one refers to the Indian cricket team.
Over the years, numerous coaches have distinguished themselves with Gary Kirsten and John Wright quickly springing to mind. However, there have been a few men whose tenures haven’t quite worked out as planned, for example, Greg Chappell.
Thus, with India embarking on another four-year cycle post the 2019 World Cup, all eyes have inevitably shifted to the Kapil Dev-led committee entrusted with selecting the Men In Blue’s next head coach.
Ravi Shastri, the man in charge of operations currently, hasn’t endured a sub-standard stint by any stretch of the imagination. Under his tutelage, the Indians have scaled the top of the Test rankings, even winning a Test Series Down Under at the start of 2019.
However, the former Indian all-rounder’s inability to guide the side past vital ODI hurdles, recently the 2017 Champions Trophy Final and the 2019 World Cup semi-final has cast his role under the scanner.
Moreover, a few of Shastri’s selections have left a lot to be desired at times and many have voiced their opinion of replacing the veteran with someone better equipped to handle coaching assignments.
Several eminent coaches had thrown their name into the aforementioned category and the BCCI has pruned down the list to six candidates, including Shastri. The committee is expected to conduct interviews on the 16th of August and name the next Indian coach after those discussions culminate.
Hence, through the course of this article, we take a look at the five new contenders who could land the job and rank them according to their suitability to the Indian team.
#5 Robin Singh
Robin Singh has been around the domestic coaching fraternity over the years and has given a good account of himself. After having ascended the Mumbai Indians throne in 2008, the former all-rounder has been working as a batting coach for the IPL franchise and has played a vital role in guiding them to a number of titles.
With Robin in the mix, the Indian team would be signing up for a coach whose expertise lies in making the batsmen adapt to situations. During his time at the Mumbai Indians, he has managed to bring through the likes of Ambati Rayudu, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav.
Thus, the former cricketer’s coaching pedigree, when it comes to franchise cricket seems a cut above the rest. However, international cricket is a different kettle of fish altogether.
Robin has only taken charge of the Hong Kong cricket team as the head coach and has functioned as the Indian fielding coach between 2007 and 2009. Hence, his international CV seems quite light in comparison to some of the other contenders.
And, though the Indian team would be getting an extremely passionate person as their coach in the form of Robin Singh, his lack of experience could just prompt the top brass to look the other way.