If Shastri experiment works out, Indians may well be running the rest of support team operations
Sanjay Bangar
Chennai: An Indian is in strategic control of Team India after years have passed since Kapil Dev was the head coach of the team. The team has mostly had a principal foreign coach with an annual contract ever since John Wright took over in the early years of the new millennium.
The tilt to international expertise in team management, first proposed by Dravid and Ganguly, had taken such hold that sporadic protests by retired Indian cricketers did not even register on BCCI officialdom.
We know where the latest moves are coming from. Ravi Shastri is a known loyalist of the de jure power centre of the board. He has the onerous task of being the balancing centre of power even as Duncan Fletcher is retained, perhaps for contractual reasons, until he quits on his own.
It is on the cards that an Indian will soon be in regular charge of the team. If the Shastri experiment works out well and he remains team director, Indians may well be running the rest of the support team operations too.
Most of the cricket ahead of the World Cup is to be of the limited-overs variety and so it makes sense for Dhoni to remain as ODI and T20 captain. But, if he is chosen to lead India in home Tests as well as the Tests on the tour of Australia, it would become very clear that Dhoni’s appointment is some sort of a long term arrangement between him and the controller of Indian cricket.
Of course, the argument could well be that Dhoni’s authority as captain is not to be disturbed while Team India is tasked with the defence of the World Cup.
The support staff now named — Sanjay Bangar and Bharati Arun as general coaches and R. Sridhar, an Andhra cricketer known to be a good fielder in his days may not sound imposing. Bangar and Sridhar did well with Kings XI Punjab in IPL-7, which is why they are in position now.
In Shastri, they have a knowledgeable operator who can also turn out to be a good man manager.
( Source : dc )
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