Does India need a coach?

[Ram]

It is surprsing that many of you here think that the team can do without a full-time coach , especially when the role of the people like Bob Simpson , Buchanan , John Wright have played in the lifting their times to new heights.

[Bumper]

A series win against SA which we have never managed overseas, is a great feat. But lets not delude ourselves anymore than we have already, so far. A rain shoretened 2-1 margin against a weakened SA (no Smith & most importantly no Polly who has been Tendu's nemesis going by history), deserves credit but not mad celebration This series means 2 things to me: 1) Getting accustomed to overseas conditions quickly and starting with a winning note. India has been historicall weak in this aspect. We have almost always started an overseas tour recently on a bad note & then played the remaining part of the series under pressure, salvaging something in the process (Loss vs WI in ODI series, followed by Test series win, Loss vs SA in ODI series, followed by a test win, Loss vs Pak in test series followed by ODI series win to quote a few examples). 2) Getting useful match practise in English conditions. We have had Sachin, Ganguly, Yuvraj, Karthik, Dravid all spend time in the middle, while ZK, Aggy, RPS & Piyush all picked key wickets at crucial moments in the series. This augurs well for the team. The team will always look good & united when things go well (as experienced during the 17 game chasing streak record). But this does not make the role of a coach any less important. Coaching is a full time job. We need someone dedicated to that job.

[Lurker]

And we had to make do without the services of SS' date='Munaf, Aggy, Dhoni, Sehwag, Kumble,Harbi. Between those you can find more than a equal match for the 2 SAF players you mentioned.[/quote'] Not really BB. SS is seriously cr@p in LOI, Agarkar is well Agarkar you never know, Munaf is great but so fragile that I have given up on him, Bhajji and Kumble are not top of the line(in LOI), Sehwag is fighting ghosts, Dhoni remains to prove himself away from home. On the other hand Polly is number 1bowler in the world and SRT's greatest nemesis in the game. Smith has done good in India but flopped in South Africa last time so maybe he wouldnt have been missed much. In this low scoring games I think Pollock would have made a big difference. xxx

[Lurker]

1) Getting accustomed to overseas conditions quickly and starting with a winning note. India has been historicall weak in this aspect. We have almost always started an overseas tour recently on a bad note & then played the remaining part of the series under pressure, salvaging something in the process (Loss vs WI in ODI series, followed by Test series win, Loss vs SA in ODI series, followed by a test win, Loss vs Pak in test series followed by ODI series win to quote a few examples).

I would agree to that Bumper. Historically India somehow always managed to lose in openers, thus not only getting a mental setback but also losing out on quality time spent in the middle. To win against a top side in alient condition will not only boost moral but also has hopefully given enough time for batsmen and bowlers to get a feel of things. It should be noted that this is the smart of summer so the temperature will only rise(read less sweaters for Indian players on field) and the ball will spin more as well. This win shall come as a much needed shot in the arms of India. xx

[Bumper]

In this low scoring games I think Pollock would have made a big difference

I agree. These conditions were tailor made for Pollock. His absence made a huge difference to the relative strenghs of the sides.

[King]

Ravi, I believe that may be a key difference between Indian approach to cricket and other successful teams. We get too caught up in playing one game at a time and not worry about long term planning. This almost always leads us to a situation where a team with aging superstars plays a good solid 2-3 years more and when they retire there are no replacement that shall seamlessly merge into the team. xx

I understand where you are coming from but no international coach gets himself involved in the coaching of up coming domestic cricketers. That is managed by the local domestic teams and the academy. The international coach's job is to manage the already selected bunch of cricketers in the XI. It is the selectors job to rest the seniors often to make room for the younger ones. The coach has to simply get the best out of the selected bunch. This is how any successful coach works. Even if you look at Australia the coach had clear cut job description to manage the international team. He didn't go around coaching the domestic teams. Similar approach is prevalent in NZ too. The national coach talks to the domestic level coaches but does not go around building a talent pool in the country. That clearly is not his job.

[Lurker]

^^ Ravi that method obviously does not work in India since our Administrators and facilities fall way short. This is where a coach can help. This is where John Wright helped. He, alongside Ganguly, made sure a few new players were brought in team. Yuvraj and Sehwag enjoyed their stint thanks to Ganguly and Wright. Not sure of what %age of effort was owned by whom but I can bet safely that it certainly was not Dalmiya and co that ensured Yuvraj/Sehwag/nehra etc get that long a stay. x

[Guest BossBhai]

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[Lurker]

I could simply produce stats galore to argue otherwise Lurks ... but this is where me and you differ .... I find strengths in our own XI while you would do the opposite .... :wink_smile:

If you say so BB. I am not going to be extra excited about this win, happy yes but would much rather put it in perspective. x

[King]

Neither am I. I have to be honest I'm not feeling great about the wins. I quite find it hard to understand the way the players were celebrating the series win. Perhaps I've lost interest in ODIs :confused_smile: I quite like the wins but it is no more than mere couple of wins that are not even going to be remembered a month or two later.

[Guest BossBhai]

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[Cricketics]

no India doesn't any coach, what India need is a lady physiotherapist..

[Lurker]

And Iam afraid you will never be excited about any of our wins ... Sorry but thats the way I make it out to be.

You are way off the mark but hey whatever catches your fancy.

Perspective ? Perspective would also be the back drop in which we acheived the wins ... the lack of key players , the damp cold depressing and frustratingly alien environement in which we played ...or the Virus which took down half of the team (and not the other team) and hence reqd a bunch of newbies flown in to fill in the spots just in case ... Perspective can also be on how we came back from 0-1 down with nobody giving us a remote chance to win even one of the remaining two. but you chose Polly and Smith ....

Perspective would be that YOU are shouting all time - I give a damn about LOI, test cricket is the real deal, so I have to wonder why this excitment? Or is it a case of a certain format being good when your team does well and not so much when it doesnt? As for the damp cold and alien environment you forgot to read what I had mentioned in one of my threads. Let me quote it for ya.

To win against a top side in alient condition will not only boost moral but also has hopefully given enough time for batsmen and bowlers to get a feel of things. It should be noted that this is the smart of summer so the temperature will only rise(read less sweaters for Indian players on field) and the ball will spin more as well. This win shall come as a much needed shot in the arms of India.

As for Polly I stand by my thought that Polly could have made a vital difference. He is SRT's nemesis number 1 in LOI, is number 1 bowler in the world, and in conditions where Ganguly and Ishant Sharma could make the ball swing he could very well have been the difference between the two sides. xx

[Guest BossBhai]

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[Rahul]

Ravi, I believe that may be a key difference between Indian approach to cricket and other successful teams. We get too caught up in playing one game at a time and not worry about long term planning. This almost always leads us to a situation where a team with aging superstars plays a good solid 2-3 years more and when they retire there are no replacement that shall seamlessly merge into the team. xx

lurker, pardon me while i fall of my chair laffing. are u serious when u say: "We get too caught up in playing one game at a time and not worry about long term planning. This almost always leads us to a situation where a team with aging superstars plays a good solid 2-3 years more and when they retire there are no replacement that shall seamlessly merge into the team." :hysterical::hysterical: i thot u understood how BCCI works, bro.

[Lurker]

you wont find a bigger fan of Test Match Cricket than yours truly ... I dare you to find one ...

Ah the good old dare on MB. Good for you if you are a true Test fan BB, no need to prove yourself to me(or anyone else). Put it this way, had this 2-1 win come against SAF in Test, specially with 1-0 down it would have been different. To celebrate 3 LOI seris win, atleast one of which was 30 odd overs, against a depleted SAF side is nothing too earth-shattering. Good win yes but lets keep it at that.

And I satand by my comment that between Aggy , SS and Munaf we would have more than a match to Polly.

I would say you are mistaken Polly is miles ahead of the three put together. xxx

[karina]

Perspective ? Perspective would also be the back drop in which we acheived the wins ... the lack of key players , the damp cold depressing and frustratingly alien environement in which we played ...or the Virus which took down half of the team (and not the other team) and hence reqd a bunch of newbies flown in to fill in the spots just in case ... Perspective can also be on how we came back from 0-1 down with nobody giving us a remote chance to win even one of the remaining two. but you chose Polly and Smith ....

Wah, Bheembhai! Yes, it's nice to see India beat the crap out of a team, but that almost always happens when the conditions are favoring it. There was more going for SA than India, and India won because it fought SA right till the end. The disciplined bowling, the calm nerves even when quick wkts fell in the middle....wonderful. And how's this for perspective - India beats SA for the first time away from home without the help of a high falutin coach.

[karina]

It is surprsing that many of you here think that the team can do without a full-time coach ' date=' especially when the role of the people like Bob Simpson , Buchanan , John Wright have played in the lifting their times to new heights.[/quote'] Correction - foreign coach. If we can get a low-key non egotistical fellow like Wright, then it helps the team. Otherwise someone like chappell -shudder- can wreak havoc.

[Guest BossBhai]

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[Rahul]

And I satand by my comment that between Aggy , SS and Munaf we would have more than a match to Polly.

yeah, at least three of them. given the verbiage, i agree. it takes AT LEAST aggy, SS and munaf to shine polly's boots. if u think polly is comparable to these jokers, i suggest u tweak yr old video player.