It is gradually coming out in the open that the Indian cricket team needs a Gary Kirsten to be at the helm of affairs. With an in unprecedented delay in announcing the name of Duncan Fletcher’s successor, there is a certain section in the BCCI who strongly believe that Kirsten is the best bet to take over as the head coach.
Sources said that there has been an effort to send fillers to the former South African opener before the 2015 World Cup began in Australia to be a part of the Indian set-up after a successful stint earlier. But it is revealed that Kirsten isn’t interested to join a full-time arrangement of coaching an international team.
Kirsten is currently engaged with the Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League. Under him, India won the 2011 ICC World Cup at home and was also the No.1 Test team in the world.
As reported earlier by Drcricket7, there are names of Andy Flower and Stephen Fleming who could be in the fray. But other than these names, there is also a John Wright who is of Kirsten mode.
If these names don’t come under consideration, BCCI may fall back on the 2005 procedure of picking the head coach by shortlisting names which will be followed by a series of interview
Sources said that board office bearers also want to know the views of the cricket advisory committee members (Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman) before committing to any procedure.
BCCI also wants to know if the advisory committee can suggest any name. With not many reputed foreign coaches showing keen interest to head the coaching staff there is also a thought process in the board to appoint an Indian head coach.
But the kind of commitment and professionalism the foreign coaches have shown over the years, no Indian coach can come close to it. If the board can appoint a head coach like Rahul Dravid, it can fulfil the requirement. “Can you imagine an Indian coach throwing the ball for two hours?” a BCCI official asked.
With two captains in three formats of the game, it’s also not a child’s play to handle team issues smoothly. According to sources, the players are more than happy to have a coach who is ‘less imposing’. And most importantly, India need a coach who doesn’t make much noise about his work — someone like Gary Kirsten.
