Sunil Gavaskar wants Duncan Fletcher sacked

Duncan Fletcher

Unhappy with the role of Duncan Fletcher as the coach of the Indian cricket team, former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar has asked for him to be replaced. What has further irked the former players and fans is that Fletcher left for South Africa as soon as India were knocked out of the Asia Cup.

Gavaskar wrote in his column for a national daily, citing how ordinary the Indian cricket team has looked under the 65-year-old.

“It (Indian cricket) seems to be in a freefall that looks tough to arrest,” he writes. “What Indian cricket needs right now is a younger coach who will want to be out working with the team and not looking to put his feet up at the slightest chance.”

The effect of 2011 World Cup winning coach Gary Kirsten, under whom the Indian team dominated world cricket, and how he got the best out of players has been explained by Gavaskar,

“Kirsten was enormously respected by the players because he had done the hard yards in both forms of the game. Kirsten knew the value of practicing to get better and under him the training sessions were competitive, productive and enjoyable,” observed Gavaskar. “Since his departure, Indian cricket has just slipped and slipped.”

Under the tutelage of Kirsten who was the coach from 2008 to 2011, India climbed to the summit of the Test rankings, besides being a force to reckon with in the ODIs.

However, it was on the recommendation of Kirsten that Fletcher was handed the job, beating the likes of Andy Flower and Stephen Fleming. The former Zimbabwe cricketer’s reign has been marred with the overseas losses.

Gavaskar also added that unless Fletcher is removed of his duties immediately and replaced with someone inspirational, Indian fans will be better off not expecting the team to defend the prestigious title.

“There will be some who will argue that changing coaches with just one year to go is not a wise move, but unless that is done Indian cricket will continue to go down.”

Former Chairman of Selectors Dilip Vengsarkar has also criticised the 65-year-old, who has only played 6 ODIs and 111 first-class matches in his cricketing career. Vengsarkar, who travels all around the country to scout the best of talents, is miffed that Fletcher is not bothered to watch domestic cricket and help Vengsarkar with suggestions.

“I don’t know what his contract says but he is just content being with the team watching international cricket which is not good enough. He should be watching domestic cricket so that he can also give suggestions to selectors,” he said.

With the below average performance of the Indian bowling, Sunil Gavaskar’s call for the inclusion of rookie pacer Ishwar Pandey fell on deaf ears. MS Dhoni‘s decision to give Stuart Binny only one over to bowl and also letting him bat at No. 8 in the ODIs against New Zealand along with the stand-in captain Virat Kohli‘s refusal to try Ishwar Pandey in the recently concluded Asia Cup indicate the lack of confidence of the team management in the players’ ability.