Akram, Vengsarkar bat for Indian coach
Wasim Akram and Dilip Vengsarkar made a united pitch for an Indian to take charge of the national cricket team. Vengsarkar even made an oblique reference to maintain status quo by saying Ravi Shastri, Sanjay Bangar and B Arun have done a good job.
“I would prefer an Indian coach because you are not just looking at someone taking charge of 15-16 players. The new coach should be aware of India A, the first-class setup… someone who knows and follows Indian cricket,” said Vengsarkar, former India captain who helmed the selection committee which made MS Dhoni skipper.
“There was a time when Mumbai and Bengal were playing at the Wankhede. The then India coach who was a foreigner was staying one kilometre away and didn’t bother to come even for a day.” LITTLE CONNECT This being a programme for students at a school in north Kolkata, the tone was conversational.
So, Akram supported Vengsarkar’s idea through another anecdote. He spoke of a Pakistani player nodding vigorously to whatever Geoffrey Boycott was saying. Akram asked the player whether he understood the pronounced Yorkshire accent and he replied in the negative.
“Had I said I wasn’t following, Boycott would have gone on for another hour,” recalled the Kolkata Knight Riders’ mentor emphasising how everything was lost in translation.
Should an Indian take over from Duncan Fletcher, it would be the first time since Kapil Dev quit in September 2000.
Akram also spoke of how Brad Hogg had stepped into Sunil Narine’s role for the Kolkata Knight Riders. “Credit should go to Gautam Gambhir for always looking for a mystery spinner, because it is difficult to pick his stock ball,” he said.
The Knights, he said, were hopeful of getting a positive report on Narine, who was an important player in two successful IPL campaigns, in the next two days.
When asked about Umesh Yadav’s first over on Monday against Sunrisers Hyderabad in which he took two wickets, Akram said: “The ball that dismissed (David) Warner was a match- winning delivery. It was unplayable, a dream ball bowled to one of the best hitters in the modern era. The game changed after that.”