Remembering Sehwag

[sandeep]

58 minutes ago, goose said:

If India are serious about emulating Eng make Sehwag coach and Pant captain

Horrible, absolutely terrible idea of making Sehwag coach.

 

You know that I'm a huge fan of Veeru the cricketer.  But coaching is a job that he's not cut out for - maybe a consulting 'mentor' or what not, but he can't run the joint.  Does not have what it takes - most definitely.

[goose]

17 minutes ago, sandeep said:

Horrible, absolutely terrible idea of making Sehwag coach.

 

You know that I'm a huge fan of Veeru the cricketer.  But coaching is a job that he's not cut out for - maybe a consulting 'mentor' or what not, but he can't run the joint.  Does not have what it takes - most definitely.

McCullum’s only value add is the mental side, he openly admits he does not see himself as a coach in traditional sense. Basically a sports psychologist.

[sandeep]

1 hour ago, goose said:

McCullum’s only value add is the mental side, he openly admits he does not see himself as a coach in traditional sense. Basically a sports psychologist.

yeah, but England coaching and team mgmt set up is different than Indian.  And for all of McCullum's skills and flaws, they have a more robust organizational mgmt setup around the team.  Veeru's been given the leadership opportunity in IPL and has struggled - I mean, I love the guy and love his mindset.  But that's not something you can transfer easily to players.  Indian team needs a different sort of 'hand' at the wheel.  Think back to why Gary Kirsten was so effective with Dhoni, or even John Wright.  I'm a huge Wright fanboy because I view his tenure as a turning of the page - the beginning of the phase where Indian cricket started the journey to modern professionalism, but he had his limitations.  Veeru as coach doesn't solve nearly enough problems.  Gary and Dhoni worked well together because they happened to share similar vision and did not have any turf conflicts. 

 

One of the fundamental issues holding Indian cricket back from optimal results is that we haven't really addressed the question of responsibility and control equation between coach and captain - Shastri the slick political animal that he is, solved it by happily surrendering control to Virat.  Dravid - in my personal opinion - is a by the book guy who tends to approach questions and problems from a certain perspective, and when push comes to shove, isn't going to want to assert himself on conflict-inducing questions when it comes to selection, team tactics etc.  What India needs is a clear compact between selectors, captain and coach.  We don't have that.  Its very laissez faire and undefined, with some sort of 'turf' boundaries thrown in.  Selectors appear to be getting a greater control over selection at the expense of captain/coach, while captain does get his say, but in the end, the way the system is set up it is pre-disposed to conservatism across the board.  The only possible change agent is an activist captain who pushes for it.  Think back to Kumble's coaching tenure - and I am very sure that he had been pushing for some of the very changes that this forum is slowly now waking up to.  And he was jettisoned by Kuptaan Wogn who didn't do it solo - he was backed up on it by the "senior players".   

 

When you ask the senior players to set the team agenda, their self-preservation instincts are by default going to influence decision-making, even if unconsciously.  

 

To be fair, Rohit Sharma's captaincy thus far did show glimpses of evolving away from the defacto top order selfishness that is a major issue for the Indian team, but I don't think the selection policies have been good enough.  The problem is that Rohit himself is part of the 'old guard' and it can't be easy for him to jettison a Dhawan, or push back on Virat without his own spot being in question.  Rohit finds himself in a spot similar to late Saurav Ganguly, although he isn't as bad a liability to the team at this stage of his career.  

 

Ultimately I think post ODI WC loss, India will get a new captain - possibly Pant, or somebody of his generation, and maybe we can have a re-set on the selection.  I don't think Pandya will be able to overcome fitness challenges to be anything more than a stop-gap captain.  If he manages to stay fully fit for multiple years - and by that I mean full bowling fitness, he could potentially be that guy.  

 

 

 

 

[goose]

22 hours ago, sandeep said:

yeah, but England coaching and team mgmt set up is different than Indian.  And for all of McCullum's skills and flaws, they have a more robust organizational mgmt setup around the team.  Veeru's been given the leadership opportunity in IPL and has struggled - I mean, I love the guy and love his mindset.  But that's not something you can transfer easily to players.  Indian team needs a different sort of 'hand' at the wheel.  Think back to why Gary Kirsten was so effective with Dhoni, or even John Wright.  I'm a huge Wright fanboy because I view his tenure as a turning of the page - the beginning of the phase where Indian cricket started the journey to modern professionalism, but he had his limitations.  Veeru as coach doesn't solve nearly enough problems.  Gary and Dhoni worked well together because they happened to share similar vision and did not have any turf conflicts. 

 

One of the fundamental issues holding Indian cricket back from optimal results is that we haven't really addressed the question of responsibility and control equation between coach and captain - Shastri the slick political animal that he is, solved it by happily surrendering control to Virat.  Dravid - in my personal opinion - is a by the book guy who tends to approach questions and problems from a certain perspective, and when push comes to shove, isn't going to want to assert himself on conflict-inducing questions when it comes to selection, team tactics etc.  What India needs is a clear compact between selectors, captain and coach.  We don't have that.  Its very laissez faire and undefined, with some sort of 'turf' boundaries thrown in.  Selectors appear to be getting a greater control over selection at the expense of captain/coach, while captain does get his say, but in the end, the way the system is set up it is pre-disposed to conservatism across the board.  The only possible change agent is an activist captain who pushes for it.  Think back to Kumble's coaching tenure - and I am very sure that he had been pushing for some of the very changes that this forum is slowly now waking up to.  And he was jettisoned by Kuptaan Wogn who didn't do it solo - he was backed up on it by the "senior players".   

 

When you ask the senior players to set the team agenda, their self-preservation instincts are by default going to influence decision-making, even if unconsciously.  

 

To be fair, Rohit Sharma's captaincy thus far did show glimpses of evolving away from the defacto top order selfishness that is a major issue for the Indian team, but I don't think the selection policies have been good enough.  The problem is that Rohit himself is part of the 'old guard' and it can't be easy for him to jettison a Dhawan, or push back on Virat without his own spot being in question.  Rohit finds himself in a spot similar to late Saurav Ganguly, although he isn't as bad a liability to the team at this stage of his career.  

 

Ultimately I think post ODI WC loss, India will get a new captain - possibly Pant, or somebody of his generation, and maybe we can have a re-set on the selection.  I don't think Pandya will be able to overcome fitness challenges to be anything more than a stop-gap captain.  If he manages to stay fully fit for multiple years - and by that I mean full bowling fitness, he could potentially be that guy.  

 

 

 

 

Fair enough. I can’t see how other countries will resist the Eng way. It’s the future and who better to install that brand than someone who did it himself. It’s got to be 24/7 messaging. 

[putrevus]

What exactly has McCullum won with NZ and England. Shastri won much more and he did just fine as coach. It is unnecessary over the top expectations  not matching the talent he was given to work it and yet he managed to make the team the most consistent team in all formats.

 

He never won the hardware but that to me requires some luck too. Kohli and co never were clutch that is not on coaching but players unable to handle the pressure.
 

Some morons like Ganguly think too much about the talent level present in India. Quantity does mean quality.