Kirsten- the new Indian coach?
Posted by Z on November 27th, 2007
The story of the BCCI selecting the national team coach achieved soap opera proportions today with Gary Kirsten emerging as the front runner. It’s almost like an Ekta Kapoor serial; every once in a while a new character keeps cropping up and keep all parties interested. (Not that I have watched Ekta Kapoor’s saas-bahu dramas). Coming to think of it, it is exactly like the FA’s process to appoint the English coach! Lots of names are thrown about; the tabloid media runs around trying to get sound bytes and after a lot of chaos a third or fourth choice candidate emerges to get the job.
Why Gary Kirsten? What has he done as a coach that has convinced men like Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and S. Venkatraghavan that he is indeed the man for the job? Sure, he may have a vision and may be good with powerpoints but the man has had no experience! And this is the Indian team we are talking about, not the Chennai Superstars or Delhi Jets. Shastri, Gavaskar and Venkat were the men who appointed Greg Chappell. Chappell was a big name with a vision but had no experience and we all know how it turned out. And what happened to John Buchanan? He might just be worth a shot and the BCCI can certainly afford whatever he is asking for.
What continues to baffle me is that the best option is already in Bangalore. His name is Dav Whatmore. Whatmore has had tremendous success in the subcontinent and with two teams. He handles giant egos (De Silva, Ranatunga) and youngsters (the entire Bangladesh team) really well. And yet the BCCI, in its infinite wisdom has appointed him the chairperson of the National Cricket Academy.
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November 27th, 2007 at 3:09 am
Was he in the much touted list of 22 aspirants?
November 27th, 2007 at 4:02 am
I don’t think Whatmore is necessarily the best candidate. He worked well with teams where the number of stars/superstars were lesser and stature was lower. India currently isn’t the same as SL in mid 90’s (and the relationship between DeSilva and Ranatunga was quite good at that point in time anyways). But given Kirsten’s lack of any experience for the job, I agree that Whatmore can best that!
November 27th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
*Gossip* I heard SRK was also one of the touted list of 22 aspirants after his performance in Chak De and was feverishly pushed by Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri to make him as the coach for team
…*Gossip*
November 28th, 2007 at 3:58 am
the worst thing about this is he did not even apply for the job..he is quoted as saying that BCCI approached him….