Five things that make an international cricket coach successful

Coaches in international cricket play an absolutely essential role in modern times, so much so that every team not just has a head coach overseeing proceedings, but also a batting, bowling and fielding coach in order to take care of the separate departments. With that being the case, it is quite astonishing that cricket coaches for the elite level were only considered fundamental from the late 1980s onwards. There might have been occasions, during the 1970s and earlier, where there were people present with international teams in order to help in going about cricketing matters but only on a part-time basis. The whole thinking towards coaches in international cricket has changed for the better, in my opinion, in the last 2 decades or so.That brings me to what are the qualities that an international coach must possess in order to be successful. While there are no set norms as such that a coach adhering to will enable guaranteed success, there are certain attributes which a coach having will be of tremendous help and make the job a whole lot easier.Here are five requisite qualities for a coach to be successful:

#1 Avoiding the spotlight

It is imperative for coaches, I believe, to stay in the background and go about their business quietly rather than seeking attention onto themselves. It is the players, after all, that have to perform on the field, and coaches would do well to ensure that the focus remains on the players.

This is where Gary Kirsten was spot on during his time as Indian coach from 2008 to 2011. The Indian players often spoke about Kirsten having excellent inputs as coach and rated him as one of the best they had ever worked with, but never did the South African, despite the numerous plaudits coming his way, pat himself on the back and claim any credit for the work that he had done, displaying his humility along the way.