Who should BCCI consider as the next coach? - A humble suggestion

Leading the Indian cricket team is a thankless job. The fans from the subcontinent have always been intolerant towards accepting failures. That said – when you are captaining a team which has been facing nothing but defeats for more than a year, then you must brace yourself for the worst. And if you have not contributed anything special as an individual too, it is quite natural for the outsiders to call for your head. This, precisely, is what India’s World Cup winning captain, M.S.Dhoni, is facing and it looks all the more obvious now that he would be replaced shortly, if he does not press the panic button very soon.

While I agree with the views of millions of Indian fans that the man from Jharkhand needs to be given an extended run after retirements of Dravid and Laxman, I would like to question the rationale behind persisting with Duncan Fletcher as the coach of our national side. This former Zimbabwe captain, no doubt, had done wonders as the coach of England and maybe that prompted BCCI to bestow him with the same responsibility with India, hoping that his appointment would continue Team India’s dominance in both Tests and ODIs. However, as fate would have it, India’s position has deteriorated ever since former South African great Gary Kirsten made his exit.

Now, does that mean that the Southpaw was an exceptional coach as compared to Fletcher? Many cricket watchers seem to have developed that opinion. Honestly speaking, Gary Kirsten should count himself very lucky, not having to don the role of India’s coach during tours of England and Australia. No matter whoever was coaching them, they would have succumbed the same way, as they did under Fletcher. He was fortunate that his contract as a coach got over with the euphoria of India’s victory in 2011 World Cup. All said and done, it has to be noted that while Fletcher has been facing tougher assignments, the former South African opener enjoyed a relatively easier outing as a coach, throughout his tenure. In my view – neither one of them, with all due respect, makes for a good coach for a team like India on a longer run. Duncan might have turned things around for England but it is highly unlikely that he is going to do the same for a team which looks impoverished due to the exit of some of its senior members. The Zimbabwean, as far as I am concerned, should go out and BCCI should find a better coach in his place.

So, who can coach Team India and do a repair job? Well, I am not here just to challenge BCCI’s decision of having Fletcher as India’s coach but I am here to suggest a better person for the team. Before revealing the person who I have in mind, let me first list out the prerequisites of a coach:

1. The BCCI should appoint such person as a coach who wilfully volunteers to provide his services for the team and who has sought to do it without anyone’s insistence in the past.

(No, I did not mean Mohinder Amarnath – Of course, he loves to take up the coaching job for the Indian team but then, I don’t think it could possibly work out.)

So, Mohinder Amarnath is certainly not in my mind as I go to the next point.

2. A coach has to be shrewd enough so that no one misses out on practice sessions or conspires to wedge differences among team members.

(No, please don’t take me wrongly – I really did not mean Greg Chappel here. He was shrewd no doubt, but he was not the sort of coach one can wish for Team India. A coach should be able to express his dissatisfaction – face to face – before the team. Whereas the Australian, when he was the coach, wrote a letter to BCCI, requesting them to expel the then Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, over some petty issues. This resulted in an infamous Ganguly–Chappel spat which spoiled Dada’s career forever.)

Definitely, I am not looking for Greg as a coach again.

3. Whoever gets appointed as a coach should be so technically sound so that even a veteran like Tendulkar would be able to approach him to get his own technique corrected.

(Not too many players, past or present, have that ability to recite batting lessons to the Indian batting maestro, who himself, is an institution of cricket. That leaves out players like Andy Flower, Duncan Fletcher, Dav Whatmore or for that matter even Gary Kirsten as none of them can boast themselves of having the sort of experience or for that matter cricketing knowledge to teach someone like Sachin Tendulkar.)

4. The coach should be unbiased and also friendly to everyone.

( No, I am not advocating for John Wright either. Yes, the New Zealander was a good coach, no doubt. But, during his tenure, the team members did not have so many differences between them, as we see nowadays. There are a few in the present team who do not see each other eye-to-eye. So, a friendly approach alone will not do. A coach should not only be friendly but at the same time should be able to reprimand the players whenever the situation demands.)

Now, I can think of only one individual who would be able to comply with all the aforementioned requirements. At times, he may sound very degrading but I am sure Indians won’t mind it. He can use worst phrases to call your tactless act on the field but you will take them in your stride. He is the man who always speaks his heart. He is the one who always loved India. He is the one and only Geoffrey Boycott.

As I said, it should be someone who wilfully offers his services to the Indian team, who needs to be appointed as the coach. This former English opening batsman was desperate to have his hands on the job a long time ago but I am still wondering why he was never considered.

He is also a shrewd guy and can never tolerate indiscipline. But then he is not the one who speaks behind one’s back. If he is not happy with anyone, he is the sort of person who can say it on the face of that player. He is not going to report to a third party, conspire against a particular individual, or hold personal differences in his mind.

From a commentary box, I guess, it was Tony Cozier who once illustrated this incident which happened during a match between England and West Indies. Geoffrey was once up against the fiery pace bowling of Michael Holding. The first five balls were literally untouchable for the English opener. The sixth ball of the over got him bowled. When the Yorkshire batsman returned to the dressing room, he was criticized by someone for the way he got dismissed in the first over itself, having been beaten by the “Whispering Death” on every ball. To this, Boycott replied calmly, “If anyone else had been batting against Holding today, he would have got out off the first ball. Since it was me, I survived the first five.” That was the sort of confidence the man from England had on his technique. He, along side Sunil Gavaskar, was known to be one of the most technically sound batsmen the world has ever produced. So, if Sachin can approach anyone in order to have even a slightest of alteration done to any of his batting techniques, it should be the veteran Englishman.

During commentary, Gavaskar, once said long back, “There is no tomorrow for Azharuddin.” The Indian batsman never liked this statement at all. He was not batting well, but even then he did not take the statement nicely and made a hue and cry about it. But despite having seen Geoffrey calling Indian cricketers’ actions as “stupid” and “idiotic!”, have we ever seen any of the players reacting to it strongly? Every one of them has treated him with respect, no matter whatsoever he had said.

Again, he can be very friendly and as a staunch follower of his commentary, I can tell that he will be very much unbiased too. No one can make a fool out of him and since everybody would like him, the players would put their own enmities aside since he would act as a connecting hub between them. A cordial and a funny atmosphere will definitely prevail in the team if he gets appointed as a coach. I think BCCI should seriously try to rope him in if they are serious about getting the best coach for Team India.