Indian cricket team has a new coach. let the many controversies be left behind now
Ravi Shastri's appointment as the Indian cricket team's coach had been widely anticipated, and so the formal announcement to this effect comes as no big surprise. Shastri had lost out the last time around following differences he had had with Saurav Ganguly, one of the three members of the Cricket Advisory Committee which had been tasked with the coach's selection. If his non-appointment then was clouded in controversy, his appointment now too is not without a controversial backdrop. Anil Kumble, who had succeeded him earlier, put in his papers following differences with team captain Virat Kohli. There had been talk that Kumble, though a gentleman-cricketer, had minced no words over the Indian team's recent performances. This was not taken kindly to by Kohli and some of his team-mates, who felt that when the chips were down the coach ought to have given a pep talk and not a dressing down. Whatever may have been the issues, the fact remained that neither Kohli nor Kumble really hit it off well, and so a parting of ways was the only exit route.
Since there was no question of replacing Kohli as captain, the solution left was for Kumble to pack up and leave. The issue, however, is not just about two individuals and their differing perceptions and approaches. It's to do with both the process of selection and the dominance of the captain in the selection process. Formally, the captain is not part of the selection system — as of now, it's the Cricket Advisory Committee comprising three former cricketing legends: Saurav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS laxman. But there is no harm in the captain being consulted, and it's even better if the candidate selected enjoys a rapport with the captain.
But the captain should not have veto powers over the selection. We do not know for sure if Kohli put his foot down in favour of Shastri, but the news in circulation is that two of the panel members had pitched for Virender Sehwag — who too had applied for the position — but had to defer to Kohli's preference. This is not to say that Shastri is a bad choice or that Sehwag would have been better. And yet, there has clearly been a mess in the selection process that keeps surfacing. It must have been quite a task for Ganguly to acquiesce to Shastri's appointment after their not too distant verbal spat. Perhaps with a view to dispel the impression that Shastri had triumphed completely, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) sought to add two high-profile support staff in the form of former pacer Zaheer Khan (bowling coach) and former batsman Rahul Dravid (overseas batting coach). The question is: If we have a batting coach and a bowling coach, where does Shastri fit inIJ It's not unusual, of course, to have specialised coaches under the umbrella of a principal coach who assumes overall accountability. Such is the case even with foreign teams. Now we have to see whether this trio can work in tandem.