The most awaited result is out. Well of course, you guessed it. Its Drunken .. oops Duncan Fletcher who will be coaching the World Cup 2011 Champs. For the first time in the history of Indian cricket, BCCI have actually hurt their reputation of being the lazy government officials we think they are. They have announced the coach of the national way before the whole world was ready for it. There were a lot of speculations about who would be filling in Kirsten's shoes. Would it be Andy 'The Reverse Sweeping' Flower, Stephen 'CSK-Player Turned Coach' Fleming, Brian 'Snubbed by IPL' Lara, Wasim 'Aiming Indian Citizenship' Akram, Sania 'now married' Mirza even David 'The Hoff' Hasselhoff was in the reckoning aparently. BCCI has been strictly avoiding desi coaches for GOD knows what reason. And as it appears Duncan Fletcher has bagged a 2 year contract to coach the Indian *cough* world champions*cough* team.
Fletcher has had his own share of ups and downs. Captaining Zimbabwe for not too long and having never played test cricket he was chosen as the light-bearer of the England national team. He guided the morally low, very brittle English side to the Ashes Glory in 2005 but, also lost the away series 5-0 in 2007 followed by a very forgettable World Cup campaign. More than coaching, his job is to handle the pressure of media and the board. Personally speaking, he has hit a jackpot at the age of 63. His pay package and perks are sure to put the ECB to shame. I think his story will unravel during the India tour of England. Will he be the next Greg Chappel or Gary Kirsten. Time will have the answer. Let's wait and watch.
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I'm cautiously optimistic.....somehow I don't see the players gelling with him in the same way they did with Kirsten....still, the men who matter keep maintaining that it is a great choice...so lets wait and see, with fingers crossed
ReplyDeleteThis was apparently discussed with the team members and BCCI only proceeded after that. His role's also been designed to reduce his workload a lot, no say in selection so it's up to the selectors to plot the succession planning. The current role just seems like an exclusive consultancy role.
ReplyDelete@TB - There has been a lot of hooha with the selection, especially the age being the main concern. At least, the BCCI have made sure the coach doesn't come up with fitness reports stating he is fitter than most players in the team. Or will he? Fingers crossed! :)
ReplyDelete@Crownish - If the national teams coach doesn't have a say in the selection process, it is equivalent to chopping his arms and send him fishing. All previous coaches Wright, Chappell, Kirsten were instrumental in bringing out talent in the form of Zaheer, Yuvraj, Raina, Ishant, Virat, Irfan.... when they had not enough exposure even in domestic levels. The selectors have their hands full with this one.
ReplyDelete@Mockwah- Put more pictures, you idiot!!!
ReplyDeletewell after reading Duncan Fletcher's biography on a sportsbook website, I think he is the right guy for India team
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