The confidante that Kohli needs?
The dust has settled on India's coach conundrum. Anil Kumble's successor has been unveiled - the former India all-rounder as well as team director, Ravi Shastri. While there is one school of thought that genuinely believes Shastri is the sort of figure who will work in perfect sync with a superstar like Virat Kohli and take the team forward, there also appears to be clear doubt over the extent of Shastri's role, considering his predecessor was pretty hands-on and the fact that the support staff has been further beefed up with the inclusion of Zaheer Khan (bowling consultant) and Rahul Dravid (overseas batting consultant).
So, will Shastri be the soothing balm after the heartburn in the Kohli-Kumble saga or is his appointment bereft of sound cricketing logic, one that will only put the team on a downward slide?
FOR:
Even though Indian cricket still remains in great shape, it knows it can ill afford another set back of the Kohli-Kumble saga ilk. Despite the outstanding results, we saw how things ended during Kumble's reign. A season that should be looked back with pride, is now being looked at with an increasing level of negativity. And with a string of major away series coming up, another setback could well push Indian cricket back by years.
Ravi Shastri may not be a coach with great credentials, but he is essentially what Indian cricket needs at the moment.
Virat Kohli is a strong, emotional and an outrageously-gifted cricketer. In Shastri, Kohli will find a confidante who will boost him to greater heights. The Indian team too will blossom under the former Team Director, with Shastri's pep talks and positive comments always capable of lifting even a team that is struggling. Remember when Shastri pumped up a recently-returned Suresh Raina to score a match-winning ODI hundred in Cardiff? That's the kind of impact Shastri can have on a side.
He also comes in with the confidence of knowing the team. During his tenure as Team Director, Shastri worked with a majority of the players in the current squad. It came as no surprise that many players hailed Shastri's impact on the young team.
He had also promised then, emphatically, that everyone should wait and watch as this team would transform themselves into a 'gun' side soon enough. With Zaheer Khan and Rahul Dravid in tow, he also has two consultants who can work wonders on the technical side of the game. The team has surely attained the status of being a 'gun side' now, and sits in the top drawer. Shastri will only help push them to the next, perhaps unprecedented, level.
AGAINST:
Ravi Shastri is India's new "head coach", but even before he begins his stint, question marks appear over the framework of his role. If he really needed extra support in the form of an overseas batting consultant in Rahul Dravid and Zaheer Khan as the bowling consultant, where does Shastri's expertise come in? And with the presence of a much-revered batting coach Sanjay Bangar as well as a fielding coach in R Sridhar, what's left for the former allrounder to take up as his and his duty alone? With such an ensemble in the backroom staff, there was perhaps a good reason to appoint Shastri as the 'Team Director' once again, even at the risk of keeping India coach-less.
There are glowing testimonials for Shastri from his previous stint as team director, appointed during England tour in 2014. Most players back then thanked him for the positivity, energy and his pep-talks after a gloomy Test series defeat. But will there be more to his role, now that he is head coach? And if that is the case, won't it lead to complication of strategies, considering the support staff is brimming with experts. CAC member Sourav Ganguly had stressed on the need for Kohli and the new coach to be on the same page and for the captain to understand how the coach is going to work, but aren't India running the risk of another fallout, with several views and opinions expected to be voiced within the dressing room?
Another key question amidst a myriad of them is how much of the work-ethics imbibed by his predecessor Anil Kumble will Shastri carry forward? One of the finest moves made by Kumble right at the beginning of his time as head coach was stressing on the importance of fitness. Players had to prove their form and fitness in the domestic circuit if they wished to return to the national side after an injury lay-off. Is that rule going to be following strictly still, even after Kumble's acrimonious exit?
There's also the small matter of results, which largely went India's way during Kumble's reign. Shastri may have made a 'great impact' on the team last time around and is being deemed as the perfect tonic for the dressing room in 'troubled times', but can all that be translated into continuity in terms of success? Highly doubtful.
Do you have an opinion about this?
Write to us at submissions@cricbuzz.com with your views. Do include your twitter handle if you'd like it to be mentioned.
User Submissions:
For starters, the entire process of appointing Team India's next Head Coach was handled appallingly by all concerned stakeholders alike. The lack of professionalism involved further underscored the often haphazard and myopic manner in which the current Board functions.
On paper, Ravi Shastri's appointment as Head Coach appears to be a manifestation of skipper Kohli's final word on the matter. Shastri may have had a "positive impact" on the side in the capacity of Team Director back in the day; but, mere motivational skills don't qualify him for this challenging task. Backed by a support cast of respected individuals and specialists; where does that leave Shastri as a contributory party?
The CAC should also have taken into account the existing work culture within the squad built over the past one year under the eventually acrimonious Kumble-Kohli alliance. The transition needs to be smooth and an extension of consolidation on what was built. Is Shastri capable of that? I'm not so sure. It remains to be seen what actual value he can bring to the table; but, on prima facie evidence; it is highly unlikely that far more qualified and reputed coaches will apply for the role down the line if this is the manner in which the process is handled (Virender Sehwag will apply regardless!). Only time will tell whether this is a prudently calibrated decision that creates an "electric atmosphere" around Indian Cricket or whether it returns to the pavillion like a "tracer bullet"... for a golden duck.
Ingitpratap Singh
Cricket has come a long way over the years. The way of playing has changed, the way we view it has changed, new rules and regulations have evolved, infact a totally new format has evolved in T20 style. However, we still view the role of a coach through an ancient lens.
In today's modern day cricket, the role of coach should be what team wants it to be, instead of vice versa. If the team wants the coach to be a motivator, he must wear a motivator's clothes, if the team wants him to be a guide.... so be it. We have examples of IPL teams like Mumbai Indians, which is the most successful IPL team, which has domain expert coaches in all aspects of the game, be it bowling, batting, fielding, psychologist, and so on. What stops Indian cricket team from having a head coach along with bowling consultant in Zaheer Khan and batting consultant in Rahul Dravid. This, in my humble opinion should only yield positive results for the team. Infact, I recall now what Gary Kirsten thought when he was appointed Indian cricket team's coach. He disclosed it in one of his interviews after India lifted the 2011 ODI World Cup during his tenure. Gary said in his interview that he wasn't there to teach Sachin how to hold a bat, or to teach Dhoni how to keep wickets, he was just there to use his experience in times of need of the team and its members.
So he realized this fact that he will be whatever team wants him to be, and hence the success. We already know about the positive role Mr. Ravi Shastri played as team director, I don't see any reason as to why he won't do so under this "head coach" post of his. Only the nomenclature has changed, nothing else. Moreover all the support staff (Zaheer, Rahul and Sanjay) is mature enough to dovetail their efforts for an overall positive effect on the team.
Argham Biswas
Yes cricket has changed over the years, be it the format or be it the style of playing. Coaches are the ones who teach the players the technical side of the game. But motivating the players is also very important in sports.
The CAC members interviewed the selected candidates and two of them - Moody and Shastri [perhaps] topped the interview. So they had to chose between the two. We all know that Kohli & co. are very close to Shastri, so obviously they would want Shastri if options are there to be chosen, nothing wrong in it in my opinion.
And it is not like that only Kohli & co. opted for Shastri. Shastri also impressed the CAC members with his presentations. That means he can guide the team technically as well.
About why should the CAC appoint the bowling and batting consultant? Why can't they? Shastri was a spinner, so Zaheer Khan can be a coach for the fast bowlers. And Rahul Dravid, well... what is there to be said about him, if he stay with the team for no reason still that is good for the players. I think that if a pep-talk has to be given to the players or to motivate a certain struggling player, there isn't a better choice than Shastri. So what is the problem with the coaching stuff? I'm absolutely fine with them. Also if the coaching staff is from India, some of the players are more comfortable, with regard to interactions.
Overall, with the next World Cup in sight, these are the best possible choices the board could have made.
A Shukla
A poor choice. He has no coaching credentials but has been involved with BCCI in many other positions. His discipline record is suspect as well and his abusive rant against curator of pitch in Mumbai after loosing an ODI is still fresh. The selection committee,it appears, acted with bias and pressure to anyhow put Shastri on the seat.
Appointment of Zaheer, Dravid to assist Shastri is unusual and creates doubts about chief coach's ability and role. One should not loose sight that the advisory committee comprises of only batsmen, was created before Supreme Court ordered reforms were implemented in BCCI and its members have very close links with many of the applicants. Ideally the selection should be made either by a broad based committee comprising of senior players who have not played with applicants, umpires, match referees or the national selectors should select coach a swell.
I feel unless BCCI is restructured, sheds off individuals, including ex-cricketers, who are living off it in one capacity or other, and the status quo is broken, we will continue to see appointments like Shastri's and exit of the likes of Kumble. Maybe the advisory committee was selecting a party mate for captain and not chief coach.
Sahil Savla
Dear Team, my personal view: Tom Moody was a far better choice because he took underdog teams - let it be Sri Lanka to the 2007 World Cup (final) or may it be [guiding] Sunrisers Hyderabad to the IPL 2016 [title] and taking them to semis for the next edition of the IPL. In terms of Shastri 's record, it is not that impressive as we lost to Bangladesh in Bangladesh, lost to South Africa in ODIs in India, lost 4-1 versus Australia in Australia and reached semifinals in the 2015 World Cup and in the World T20. But if that is considered as an achievement, then my views differ because in the World T20, India were favourites and got beaten by New Zealand and West Indies.
And [as far as] Shastri's views that he took team India to No.1 in Tests and T20s, [one has to consider] he never shared the fact Australia had rested their key players in T20s versus India as they had a hectic schedule post Tests and ODIs. India lost to good teams during his tenure and we beat Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka, but that again should not be considered as an achievement because the current Sri Lankan team was beaten by Zimbabwe and is currently the worst team among the top eight teams right now.
Ram Sharma
By appointing Shastri as a coach of Indian cricket team it tells us how restricted is CAC in their collective decisions. They still can't say they have selected one of the best coach. It's just they had no choice to whom they could choose apart from Shastri. Moody should have been given the command but it's about the captain who he is comfortable with. It's good to see that they opted for Zaheer Khan and Rahul Dravid but now the pressure is on Virat Kohli to deliver in foreign conditions.
Everyone is eyeing on World Cup 2019 but before that they have to tour South Africa, England and Australia where they haven't performed well in previous tours. Kumble had delivered the best results in the last one year. What else do you want more from a coach? Kohli-Shastri real test will start from South Africa tour.
Tanuj Kalia
Most of us know Ravi Shastri as a loud, limited commentator who throws cliches at the drop of a hat. (Pun intended).
Sadly, we take that to mean that his performance and abilities as a coach will be similar. What most of us don't know is how many cricketers who played under Shastri (when he was the Mumbai captain or when he captained India for an odd match) say that he was a master strategician and could inspire even an Ajit Agarkar to become a Kapil Dev.
As a player he developed, through sheer will and discipline, from a number 9 slogger to an opening batsman full of resolute. Off the field, he was a dasher, a charmer and knew how to have his share of fun, a quality which makes him popular among the current batch of young cricketers.
All of this makes him a perfect candidate for the coach's job.
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