Team India’s director for the limited-overs series against England, Ravi Shastri has revealed the communication gap between the players and head coach Duncan Fletcher in a report to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
According to the Indian Express, the BCCI will discuss the key points raised by Shastri in the Working Committee meeting, although the report is not official. Shastri was appointed by the BCCI to look after all cricket-related activities of Team India, after the Test series drubbing.
The former Indian skipper is said to have met Sanjay Patel and some other key functionaries of the Indian board and has asked for a stern coach for the team. He has pointed out that Fletcher is too soft and the players need an aggressive coach.
“Nobody can question Fletcher’s cricket knowledge but the former England coach needs to be more expressive,” a BCCI official told the Indian Express. “Most of these players come from remote backgrounds and they don’t understand English so well.”
“These players generally say ‘ok’ to whatever the support staff tell them regardless of whether they’ve understood it or not,” he added. “Ravi also made it clear that these players needed someone to keep a check on them.”
The report also states that Shastri has extended his support for Sanjay Bangar, Bharat Arun and R Sridhar to be given a longer stint with the team as assistant coaches. He himself has given green to continue working with the Indian team till the World Cup.
Meanwhile, it is learned that the BCCI will held a meeting with Fletcher before the West Indies series, starting October 8. The board will let Fletcher decide, whether he wants to continue with the national squad.
“The BCCI is going to ask Fletcher whether he wants to continue as coach of the Indian team, and if yes then he has to work with an Indian support staff,” the source said. “Trevor Penney and Joe Dawes will be asked to work at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. Let Fletcher decide what he wants. He can continue but only on the BCCI’s terms.”
