Abhishek Dubey
Virat Kohli has got his man. Ravi Shastri will be the head coach of team India. Now the time to deliver has come. However, how can Indian cricket these days live without its own share of twists and turns? This time too it was not different. The three wise men anointed to pick up the new head coach, came up with an add-on package. The add-on package comprises of Zaheer Khan as the bowling coach and Rahul Dravid as the batting coach for the overseas tour. At the basic intelligence level the combination looks like a game-changer. Former India captain MS Dhoni once termed Zaheer Khan as the Sachin Tendulkar of the Indian bowling. Rahul Dravid had been the key to the Indian batting success stories during the Sourav Ganguly golden era. But Indian cricket these days thrives in challenging the conventional wisdom. This could be another one.
One of the certainties of the game of glorious uncertainties is that it’s a captain’s game. Ridiculing the role of coach during the John Buchanan era, legendary leg skipper Shane Warne once famously said, “As far as I do understand the role of the coach in cricket is that is a vehicle which carries us from the team hotel to the ground and the vice-versa.” One of the three men of wisdom given the charge of selecting the head coach, Sourav Ganguly knows this the best. His running feud with Coach Greg Chappell is part of the folklore now. On the other side of the fence as well, his selection of Jumbo Anil Kumble as the head coach of India got a big thumbs down from the incumbent skipper Virat Kohli. But as one of the seasoned journalists aptly puts it, “The coach announcement had a typical Sourav Ganguly signature. He finally agreed with the skipper Virat Kohli’s choice of Ravi Shastri as the coach. But he gave a subtle message. In choosing the bowling coach and overseas batting coach he had a message for Virat and company. You could not have highway or my-way attitude.” This becomes much more intriguing when the Committee of Administrators (CoA) believes that the committee comprising of Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman has exceeded their brief. They were mandated to select only the head coach. How can they come up with two additional coaches? After his déjà vu moment new head coach Ravi Shastri also joined the bandwagon. In one of his interviews he said, “I will talk to the administrators about the support staff, once I formally take charge of the team”. The conventional wisdom also says that Head Coach normally gets the discretion of choosing the support staff. If from John Wright to Garry Kirsten to Duncan Fletcher could have their say, why should the rules be different for Ravi Shastri?
Indian cricket over the years has been used to function within the central command. There is none existent now. On one hand are the members of CoA mandated to bring about the reform in the system. On the other hand are the former BCCI officials who are not willing to give up their rights in the name of reforms. In this overall environment the appointed professionals are reigning supreme. But they do lack the credentials amongst those who matter. The end result is that the entire eco-system has become free for all. “The recent great Indian head coach hunt was another saga in this riveting tale”, says former India captain on the condition of anonymity.
The fascinating great India coach hunt could be a fascinating story for the media persons and minuscule minority who are stake holders in the system. They hardly matter to the majority of Indian cricket fans. What matters to them more is the performance of Indian cricket team on the field. The larger question now is, will Skipper Kohli be able to deliver in the most challenging phase of his career? There are three major overseas tour waiting. And off
course–then there is the World Cup 2019 in waiting. All these against the back drop of the fact that brand Kohli will now be scrutinised with its each and every move. There is a public perception that Anil Kumble was doing wonders as the head coach. He wanted to take team India to the next level for which team Kohli had to come out of their comfort zone. Team Kohli relented. “Since now Kohli has had his way in the selection of the head coach, he should have no reason why he cannot deliver?”, says an Indian cricket fan from Mumbai. Kohli can walk the talk now.
Sports are all about optimism. And let us be optimistic about the results on the field of play. Till the dust finally settles down outside the field of play, this is all the more necessary for the Indian cricket.
Firstly, India, perhaps after a long time in its cricketing history, has got an abundance of resources, in the pace bowling department. Team India has in its repertoire Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Shami, Bhuvneswar Kumar and Ishant Sharma in the test matches and Jaspreet Bumrah in the one day internationals. Not to forget a potential all rounder pace bowling talent in Hardik Pandya. All of them combined together are terrific work in progress. And there could not be a better bet than Zaheer Khan to give a sense of direction to this terrific talent base. As one of Zaheer’s contemporaries, once confided, Zaheer is India’s rare of the rarest thinking fast bowler. The way he understands his bowling and body is exemplary. “To add on to this, he thrives on mentoring the other pace bowlers. Zaheer now, will have to formally do the same which he has been informally doing over the years”. The interesting point is that he is yet to formally announce his retirement from the active cricket. If Zaheer Khan can shape up the bowling talent—India has the potential to be a formidable all conditions team.
Secondly, batting has been India’s traditional strength. However, at times, particularly in the challenging conditions, one gets the feeling of too much reliance on Virat Kohli. Now the time has come for the likes of Murali Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane, Lokesh Rahul and Rohit Sharma to come on their own in the test cricket. Also, with the countdown for the 2019 World Cup in England starting, team management needs to take a call on the continuance of MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh in the team. Dravid, who has been selected as the batting coach for the overseas conditions has already indicated this in clear terms. Dravid having mentored the India A team for more than the year, could be the bridge between the old and the new order. He knows the strength and weaknesses of the emerging players. Importantly, he also knows that if the replacement for Yuvraj Singh or MSD or either of them has to be found, the replacement should get enough exposure before the all important world cup. But for this to work, the entire support staff along with the team needs to work as the unit. If they all work together, team India could have a formidable run for the coming two years. But if they work at the cross
purpose—worse could be expected.
(The writer is senior sports journalist)
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