Indian Cricket Coach

An open Letter to the BCCI President


Dear Pawarji :

One day cricket is akin to war. You have to plot one’s way to victory using the resources that you have. Strategy is everything. Chanakya, were he alive, would have made a great cricket coach

It was not Jayasurya, Aravinda or Ranatunga who won the cricket world cup for SriLanka a decade ago- nor was it the aggressive pygmy Kallu, nor the crafty Murali not even the peerless Vaas.

No Sir, by now any logical thinker of the game will know it was the cool headed Dave Whatmore who is currently performing miracles with the Bangladesh team. Ten years ago he knit together a group of fairly average performers into a well planned strategic chase….. Successfully using the first 15overs to aim at an average run rate of 10 even when they lost wickets.

Is it a coincidence that all sub continental teams have had foreign Coaches? One has been murdered….RIP Bob Woolmer.
Another, a Chappell, has quit, casting unfair accusations at Sachin and Dravid.
I think it is more Dave’s long standing influence on SriLanka than any magic from the last wizard of Oz standing (Tom Moody) that is responsible for Srilanka’s good performances. Bangladesh’s superb results against India and South Africa were entirely due to a total team effort. Individual brilliant performances have been coordinated and focussed, so as to turn them into the team’s success by the crafty motivator and strategist Dave.
ODI batsmen are not used to playing too many left arm spinners… what a brilliant strategy to have 3 left arm spinners in your bowling attack.

Shaard Pawarji, your first choice for Cricket coach should be Dave Whatmore. Let us lure him with all the riches in the BCCI coffers.







Hold on a sec, Hon. Minister.The job of an Indian Cricket coach is almost as difficult as the Prime Minister of the Country….he needs help.




Professional American Sports teams employ MBA’s from Harvard or other top business schools. Actually we are looking for a foreign coach mainly for strategic inputs, when the perfect person is on our television screens as ESPN’s star commentator.


Harsha Bhogle has been seriously involved in cricket for more than 3 decades now….. Starting as a radio commentator for All India Radio, he was the first Indian to be invited by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and has covered more than 60 test matches and almost 400 and ODIs . In between he found time to complete an MBA from Asia’s finest (and among the world’s best) Management Institute IIM Ahmedabad

Harsha is good with people, knows his cricket, is result oriented and most important is brilliant at strategy &strategy, dear sir, is what makes teams like New Zealand and Bangladesh to perform above expectations, while talented India and Pakistan are constantly underperforming. To quote the brilliant and pleasant Bhogle, the peerless communicator, on our dismal world cup performance.
“The Queen in Alice in Wonderland would have loved it. Off with their heads” she said and that is now our theme song. We are lighting torches and fanning flames, there are nameless blogs and civility, far from being virtue, is now a discarded friend.
But anger never solved problems; never solved anything. Is there no time for a deep breath? Must all defeat be death? Must any victory be a conquest? Must water only be at 0 degrees or 100? A backward step is no good in war but in times of stress and frayed tempers it is a great balm. So let us try and take a step back and look ahead from relatively calmer land.”





Harsha with his background, experience and people skills can be the master strategist who can outthink the likes of John Buchanan and Tom Moody.
He is just too good to be assistant Coach….
Harsha should be co-coach with Dave and Pawarji, I am sure that you can play on his patriotism and so may not need the millions that may be needed with Whatmore

Sir, the Indian Hockey team had Co Captains many years ago….this was a compromise to massage 2 egos. Dave and Harsha as co cricket coaches is certainly not a compromise…it is a positive forward going move to revive Indian cricket…. and dramatically improve our chances in the next World Cup!!!

Sir, The objective is not for Yuvraj or Dhoni to score centuries and rewrite record books, nor for Utthappa to improve his batting averages
(Robin’s only objective should be a strike rate of 150 +)

The objective, for the co coaches, is to have a clear and separate strategy
(Whether chasing or setting a target) for each opponent, and get the eleven players to implement the strategy on the field to victory.

AMEN.

Sincerely Yours,

Sunil Sam Varghese.

The author invites feedback at sunsamvar@gmail.com