Goodbye Ford, bring on Patil

Graham Ford has spared himself a few headaches by turning down the offer to coach the Indian cricket team.

Ford might have known a thing or two about politics after his stint as coach of the South African team but this would have paled into insignificance compared to the wheeling and dealings in Indian cricket.
Unlike the autocratic Greg Chappell, Ford is known to be a far more gentle character who is always willing to help. This would have opened him up to bullying.
The first problem that any foreign coach faces is that he may not get the team he wants due to the quota system, a bane of Indian cricket. At every juncture there will always be a player who will remain a one or two match wonder in the record books or be the country’s ambassador to another cricket playing nation.
A foreign coach will never be able to break this system if he tries. He will simply have to accept it and move on.
The next problem will be managing India’s ageing superstars and getting the maximum out of them. A battle of egos is bound to ensue.
India’s cricketers are superstars who have such major backing from the fans that they sometimes do whatever pleases them. A coach must be ready for some tantrum or the other.
Another big headache would be when to drop a player who is not performing. Some of India’s senior players have held on to their places despite a long run of poor scores.
Indian selectors fear dropping a big name on account of the backlash it may produce in a cricket-mad country.
For example, Indian cricket needs Virendra Sehwag but not the attitude and technical difficulties he carries. And in-form Sehwag would once again boost the Indian side as he is devastating when at his best.
Every player needs a break when out of form because sometimes the mind also plays tricks along with the body. But in India, dropping a player is such a big issue that the word ‘rest’ has become a diplomatic solution.
India’s coaching problem has now become a complex issue. The Indian board of late has been opting for foreign coaches, ignoring the vast coaching talent available in the country.
There are so many younger coaches like Robin Singh or Venkatesh Prasad who could easily do the job.
Even some of the older players, who have had good playing careers, are not considered. Some of the older players have had a good run as coaches of the Indian team.
Former Indian Test batsman Sandeep Patil is another who could be ideal as a coach. He has great credentials as coach and did a good job as coach of Kenya.
However, the selectors fear that Patil may be ‘one of the boys’ and this may have proved detrimental to his chances.
Some of the former stars also fear that they will not get a free hand to run the show. They have been through the system and know it is very difficult to beat it.
The debate over foreign versus national coach will continue to be a hot topic in the country. Whether it is a foreign or a national coach, there is major repair work to be done with Indian cricket to get it back on the rails.
The recent tour of Bangladesh showed that the Indians can be made to look pedestrian when things go wrong.
The one-dayers against Bangladesh were embarrassing to watch despite India winning them. India were never really tested in the longer version because Bangladesh played in Tests after a long gap.
With the England tour coming up, India will need to get their act together because the Big Boys won’t allow the advantage to slip.
Consistency will be needed. There are a lot of technical problems which needs to be sorted out.
The future also looks a bit bleak. Some of the biggest names in Indian cricket will be retiring in the next two or three years and there is no new talent emerging.
A complete overhaul of the domestic system is the need of the hour. But there is only a remote chance that this will happen.
Ford may have loved the challenge of coaching India. But the barriers he would have needed to break would have taken some of the joy out of the job.

By Babu Kalyanpur
babu.kallianpur@tradearabia.net