The Board of Control for Cricket in India Working Committee will meet on Sunday to discuss various issues. However, considering the history of some such meetings, one can only hope that the meeting will be focussed on cricketing issues instead of getting sidelined by politics.
Although there is no official word about replacing Duncan Fletcher, discussion in the media is rife to the extent of listing possible candidates for the post.
When Fletcher kept failing at a crucial juncture before the Australian tour, the BCCI intending not to disrupt the team, requested Ravi Shastri to be overall in-charge of the team as its Director. It made Team India’s turnaround since then, and the meticulous campaign that Shastri chalked out for the World Cup was very impressive.
Settled look The current set-up comprises Shastri as the Director with two able assistants in Sanjay Bangar and Bharat Arun reporting to him. If the recovery mounted by the team in the past few months is anything to go by, these three have not only settled into their new roles but built a rapport with the team and skipper Dhoni.
Amidst all of this, Shastri has always been a player and a captain who could maximise the potential of his team; and has always been strategically effective. With this stint, Shastri has proved that he is an allrounder at it too. The most important factor to consider is that, like with Gary Kirsten, players trust him as the head of the team.
All these factors taken into consideration raise the question, what will a coach do in the current set-up? If the Director is to be the head of the team then you can’t expect him to report to the coach. On the other hand appointing a person above the coach will be humiliating for the new coach of the Indian team.
The current set-up, with the able Shastri at the helm, and Bangar and Arun who are combining the team in various disciplines, has proved to be successful. Indian cricket can’t have two power centres in Director and Coach. And let’s not forget Test captain Virat Kohli will be new to the job.
The real mark of leadership is to know when not to act. Cluttering a successful structure for the want of legendary names is attracting disaster. One of the finest captains Mike Brearley never ever accepted any coaching offer from either his County or the England team, as he was aware that his instinctive moves on the field couldn’t be effected from the boundary line.
Reaching legendary standards as a player does not often translate into successful coaching. The case of Mumbai Indians in the on-going IPL season is a prime illustration in this regard; with Tendulkar, Ponting and Kumble all in dugout, MI is struggling, with players seemingly confused more than anything else by the legendary mix.
Shastri left a cushy media job to save a sinking ship. He has, as he did throughout his career, proved to be a courageous leader, taking on challenges that would have appealed to hardly any other legends in his position. To bring in a new coach will disrupt the team as well as undermine his success and future participation.
The onus is on the BCCI to display courage and decisiveness by sticking with the successful structure set up by Shastri.
