The arrival of Duncan Fletcher as Indian coach heralds a new era in the history of Indian cricket, though only time will tell whether it is for the better or worse.
It’s very easy to be blown away by the man’s credentials as England’s coach but one needs to analyse objectively whether the same methods will work in India. While coaching England can be a challenging job, coaching India can be the mother of all challenges.
In any case, he couldn’t have timed his arrival better, with India currently the numero uno side in Tests and the World Cup winner in ODIs.
To reach any logical conclusion as to whether Duncan Fletcher will be successful in India, one needs to look at his past record and compare it with the past records of other foreign coaches of India.
First there was the affable John Wright, who within his quite, sober demeanor carried a steel will and a resolute temperament.
He made an unparalleled contribution in taking India out from the gloom of the match-fixing scandal and took them to the final of the World Cup.
He was genial and was liked and respected by all the team members. His biggest virtue was that he was content in keeping a low profile and letting the battle-prone captain Saurav Ganguly take center stage.
Next came the larger-than-life Greg Chappell, who immediately got a bad kind of fame courtesy of a public spat with Ganguly.
Brought up with the Australian school of thought and with an ego no smaller than those of the Indian players, he was never able to build a rapport with them.
His fetish for media and publicity resulted in numerous conflicts with players, who overtly criticized his unorthodox methods and tinkering with the batting lineup.
All this resulted in India’s worst performance in the World Cup over the past decade with a first-round exit in the Caribbean.
Then came the best of them all, Gary Kirsten. Being a great player himself, modesty was his key as he never allowed the younger players to be overawed by him.
That he commanded the respect of the senior players like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble, who were his competitors during his playing days, shows the character of the man.
He, like John Wright, believed in keeping a low profile. Along with Mahendra Singh Dhoni, he marshaled India through the finest phase in its cricketing history so far.
Now the question is where does Duncan Fletcher fit into all this. After all, he has a proven record at the international level which none of his predecessors had. Doesn’t it make him a better and more suitable candidate than the other three?
The answer to this is a resounding no. With no attempt to disparage his successes with England, the fact is that cricket in India is way bigger than what he would have experienced so far.
It’s true that under him England won test series in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and South Africa among others, but in reality none of these series were as much hyped as series involving India are.
The high watermark of his career was the 2-1 victory in the 2005 Ashes at home, which was England’s first Ashes win in 18 years.
In England everything revolves around the Ashes and a coach’s popularity is directly proportional to the team’s performance in the last Ashes, while in India he would be subjected to far more scrutiny on a match per match basis.
Secondly, he has often been criticised for giving preferential treatment to Tests over ODIs and T20s. While the England Test side prospered under his leadership, there was no substantial improvement in their performance in the shorter formats of the game.
England fared poorly in the two World Cups and Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood were the only two quality ODI players to have flourished during his eight years at the helm.
Such an attitude won’t work in India where the public love limited=over cricket as much as Tests, and where past successes are quickly forgotten and the fortunes of the players and officials fluctuate on a day to day basis.
In fact ODIs used to be India’s fallback format when success in Tests used to elude them.
Then again there’s the fear of him trying to impose his style of coaching on the Indian players. While both John Wright and Gary Kirsten had coaching experience at club and county level, neither of them had coached an international side.
Fletcher having already coached England with great success will try to deploy the same tactics which worked there. This might not work and could very well backfire, just as Greg Chappell’s Australian ways did.
Also England team’s sharp decline after the Ashes win shows his inability to make the players keep their equanimity after a major success.
Will the same happen to India? I might sound cynical, but the reality is that we shouldn’t be pinning too much hope on our new foreign coach.
The team is currently in its best possible shape and just the change of regime shouldn’t deter them from following their natural routine. It’s good that the board has decided to delay his first assignment with the team until the England tour in the summer.
This will give the Indian side a chance to judge their performance without a coach on the West Indies tour. The players can also chalk out some specific areas where they need guidance. This will give the new coach something to start with.
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