A compromise deal isn’t quite cricket

A top-heavy coaching unit may backfire on the young Indian team

The drama over selecting the head coach for the Indian cricket team is typical of a confused BCCI. Selecting a heavy-duty coaching staff that includes two former captains and a bowling legend hints at a compromise formula arrived after a win-some-lose-some discussion with captain Virat Kohli. The backroom staff comprising Ravi Shastri (head coach), Rahul Dravid (overseas batting coach) and Zaheer Khan (bowling coach) is rather unique. No team in the world can boast of such a star-studded line-up of coaches, whose combined Test experience is 336 Test matches and 694 ODIs.

After a good stint as team director, Shastri was favourite to become chief coach when the BCCI was looking for a successor to Duncan Fletcher. But Sourav Ganguly scuppered Shastri’s chances and the Cricket Advisory Committee, in their collective wisdom, appointed Anil Kumble in dramatic fashion for a year in June 2016. BCCI’s advertisement for a new coach on June 1 was prompted by Kohli’s objection to Kumble’s ‘style’ of functioning. After all efforts to improve coach-captain relationship failed during the ICC Champions Trophy in the UK, Kumble’s exit left Ganguly & Co on a sticky wicket. There was no stopping Kohli’s man Shastri now.

By forcing Kumble out, Kohli took on the CAC, the BCCI and the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators. This time, Ganguly and team rose above petty matters and chose Shastri as head coach but went a step ahead by naming a bowling and batting coach of their liking. The chief coach usually selects his support staff. It is unimaginable to think that Dravid and Zaheer will not express their views during team meetings. The presence of two heavyweights will always make decision-making a tricky job. Shastri’s man management skills will be tested to the hilt. A top-heavy coaching unit can backfire on a young Indian team