Dubai: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is looking for a coach who will be able to get along with his players. With Team India captain Virat Kohli and some of his teammates having reportedly fallen out with their present coach Anil Kumble, it has become imperative for the board not to extend Kumble’s term as coach.
So the next coach the board is seeking need not be someone high profile like Kumble, but who is able to take his players along. It is now generally accepted that Kohli, as a captain, is not someone who is easy to get along with, especially if the coach has a strong personality.
The BCCI hopes to appoint a flexible coach who will be able to handle Kohli with tact; but there is another group who would like a coach with the ability to keep a check on Kohli. The BCCI has never been happy with players or captains who are too strong and can dictate terms. It is in this context that Virender Sehwag, who has been reluctant to take up the coach’s post, was asked to apply for the same. Many believe that Sehwag could manage to control Kohli. Both Kohli and Sehwag are from Delhi and know each other very well. The BCCI is also aware that if players provoke Sehwag, he can turn aggressive like his batting style.
Interestingly, BCCI’s wish-list for a coach’s competencies also include that he be mild-mannered and yet be able to strongly implement his plans. That is where Lalchand Rajput emerged as a compromise candidate for the position. Rajput, as cricket manager of India’s successful campaign at the ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa, has proved his credentials. He is currently grooming Afghanistan into a fighting unit as their coach, In fact, what India needs is a coach with excellent man-management skills, especially a person who knows how to handle the superstars in the team.
Ramachandra Guha, a cricket historian and who was one of the Indian cricket board’s Committee of Administrators (CoA), has, after resigning, stated that ‘superstar culture’ is the bane of Indian cricket. However, many believe that he stepped down since he did not want to be in the committee if Kumble was not given an extension. Guha and Kumble are both from Bangalore and have known each other well; hence he would not want to be in the CoA when Kumble is dropped as a coach.
Rahul Dravid would have fitted well as head coach, but he is not likely to take it up after Kumble is removed. Dravid and Kumble are very close, and a strongly principled Dravid would rather opt to continue grooming the India under-19 team. Ravi Shastri successfully displayed his man-management skills as Team India director but may not get the nod as Sourav Ganguly, along with Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, are members of the committee that selects the coach.
Shastri and Ganguly had a public spat after Kumble’s appointment as coach last year, and hence it is unlikely that Ganguly will support Shastri’s candidature.
The timing of the process to select a coach has also shocked everyone. It has come at a time when players should be concentrating on the Champions Trophy rather than being distracted by political issues.
