Gobind keen to apply for Warriors top job
WARRIORS assistant coach Rivash Gobind has thrown his name in the hat to replace Malibongwe Maketa next month.
Maketa’s tenure with the Eastern Cape franchise will end at the conclusion of the Ram Slam T20 Challenge around December 16. He will then join up with the national side as Ottis Gibson’s assistant coach.
Gobind has been with the Warriors since August last year after previously serving as Lance Klusener’s assistant at the Dolphins.
He also spent some time as the KwaZulu-Natal franchise’s video analyst and had a decade playing first-class and franchise cricket in Durban.
So Gobind, 35, is eager to take on the role of head coach, having done the hard yards for some time now.
“Yes, I definitely will apply. Joining up with the squad last year and seeing the work that had gone into this team and the development of individuals and the speed of that development, I obviously feel that I have something to offer to that in finishing that project,” he said yesterday.
In the meantime, from around December 16, Gobind will take over control as a caretaker coach until Cricket Eastern Cape appoints Maketa’s replacement.
“The transition is not going to be a very difficult one in terms of the way Mali had gone about his business as the head coach.
“He has been very inclusive, so I feel very close to all the decision making and the processes that the Warriors go through.
“Obviously, being an interim position, my job is to make sure the players are focused on the present and don’t look too far ahead, which is what professional sport is all about at the end of the day,” Gobind said.
Maketa said he was sad to leave the Warriors having not completed his task.
“We haven’t won anything but the growth we have shown as a unit has been encouraging. It’s sad for me to leave the project unfinished,” he said. And what of a succession plan? “I am a Warrior through and through so I would desperately like to see our franchise go out there and dominate cricket in the country.
“I have spoken to [chief executive] Mark Williams and I’ll speak to the board so that they know what they need to do going forward. We want to attract players and build our base.”
Williams said there would a rigorous examination of all candidates who applied for the position.
“We will start the process soon to find a replacement for Malibongwe,” he said.
In the interim, Gobind is stepping up to fulfil a caretaker role to ensure there is stability until we can finalise the process.
“The challenge now is that it’s in the middle of a season, an awkward time of the year. So we’re looking at [replacing Mali] early in the new year.
“There are specific criteria that we want to subscribe to as mandated by the board, but we also want to make sure the right type of individual comes along and takes us forward.”
Having lost their opening two matches of the Ram Slam, the Warriors head to Durban today to face the Dolphins tomorrow night.