Cricinfo - Blogs - Men in White

I think all the BCCI wants is an Englishman to act as a scapegoat, and avoid abuse from British 'journalists' like Andrew Miller. The real coaching I guess will come from Prasad and Robin.

Remember Tom Moody's outburst against his countrymen, wrt their treatment of Muralitharan? The Lankans appear to be targetting another Aussie for the job, and I don't think they're looking for any coaching inputs.

I think a coach is generally useless for the team's success, and many Boards choose one for 'political' and PR motives.

I am very happy to note that there is somebody who is not in favour of a foreign coach. It is really a sad affair that we Indians always give preference to anything which is foreign whether it is a car, scent, shaving cream, blades, educational qualifications. In short we have great respect for white skin and we can go down to any level to please them. I do not think when our team visits foreign there are young girls to garland our players etc.

At present we have several past Test players like Bishen Sing Bedi, Ashok Mankad, Sandeep Patil, Roger Binny, Madan Lal etc who are engaged in coaching. I wonder why BCCI is not favouring them nor our current players. The test players of yesteryears were never paid so fabulously as the present players nor the perks. In spite they won the world cup for us.

In my opinion players should not have any say who should be their coach, It is the BCCI which should decide and they should prefer our ex test players. Let us be proud to be an Indian,learn from an Indian and support an Indian.

Let us go to be battlefield with an Indian General and not be led by a foreign mercenary.

I am of the firm belief that our India team can reach to the pinnacle of success only all our coaches whether they of senior or junior team be an India.

as a child trying to bowl spin in the streets and parks of south london i found emburey's book quite inspiring. with the power of hindsight he talks a much better game than he plays - but surely thats true of most coaches.

I have it as a rule of thumb that average players make by far the best coaches, for example Troy Cooley, Bob Woolmer, Duncan Fletcher, John Buchanan in cricket and almost all leading football managers were very average players. The same in tennis also. So if you want a good coach, look for an average or even bad player.

Isn't it interesting that the Board is finally listening to the senior players while selecting a coach. It doesn't take a genius to figure that the concern of these players would be to protect their skin rather than the good of Indian cricket. So if you are expecting great things from the new coach, dream on..

Mukul, I get the drift. Its not about Emburey. Its about that egomaniacal Sunil Gavaskar. I could agree more with you. Mr. Gavaskar has been a big dissapointment at personal level over the years. His contribution to Indian cricket is limited to his batting days. But nothing as an administrator or a mentor. A person too shrewd for his own good.

SMG is right. We got the foreign coach thing right once and the next time round has been a disaster for Indian cricket. Not that previous Indian coaches have done wonders.But, can they be worse off than Greg Chappell whose only credentials was an "underarm leading up to the middle finger"

Mukul, you are bang on target. I dont know how Sunil Gavaskar can have any credibility left after a suggestion like this. Sunil has always been egotistical and selfish. If that helped India, fine. Today it is hampering India. Embury. Lets see what Kapil has to say about that. In all of Gavaskar's roles he is a toothless politician. The ICC Crisket committee's recommendations are a farce. To think that the ICC's money has gone into flights, hotels and the lot for that crap is stunning. He messed up the previous selection i going for Chappell rather than Tom. We need a coach with a proven track record, but who has the drive and ambition to take on and be successful at this highest challenge, and who is not larger than the Captain. Tall order. But John Wright did it well for 3 years.

I think Mukul's point is that the BCCI and the players needed to have a foreign coach and they are more inclined to give the job to the SA coach in waiting. So instead of having a complex situation where both candidates are strong, they decided to invite Emburey instead. I don't think I agree with Mr
Williamson that Mukul's article suggests that the likes of John Buchanan etc cannot be coaches.

The BCCI might be thinking along the lines that if the egos of the prima donnas in the Indian team is being hurt by great players and coaches who might be tempted to tell the truth unafraid of the consequences, as their knowledge and capabilities will be respected wherever they go, it might be better to have an average player and undistinguished coach to keep the prima donnas happy and play cricket without any infighting. Whew! bloody long sentence and maybe I am giving the BCCI too much credit.

Good players do not always make good coaches,if so i could only think of one player as a coach and thats Sobers, who knew to bat bowland & field

I agree with the thrust of this article, that India's bureaucratic structure is too Dilbertesque at times. You offer your boss 2 choices - one of them so hopelessly bad they will be forced to go with your choice.

Mukul is saying that there are a wealth of better applicants out there than Emburey, some (if not most) of whom are not Indian, but the all-powerful players want a foreign coach who its easy to scapegoat & sideline when things go pear-shaped. It's elements of the bureaucracy that are foreign-biased, not himself personally.

Martin Williamson has spelt it as "Mukhal Kesevan". Proper nouns and all that, yeah. But there is such a thing as correct spelling. And totally agree with Corpusninja - Martin seems to have done some speedreading on Mukul's blog, and has totally missed the point.

I guess I must be behind the times. I always thought the idea was to get the best possible candidate regardless where that person came from. There seems to be too many people in India pulling strings and not all the same direction. I see more trouble ahead.

If the BCCI has gone ahead and invited emburey for a presentation, does it show the ineptitude of the BCCI or the clout of SMG??!! SMG is sending out the right message to the likes of Niranjan Shah who likes to shoot his mouth of at the drop of a hat.

A rather strange choice. What exactly did he hold over Whatmore? Have any of these people actually worked with Emburey to know better than his failures suggest - to know of his tale of misfortune where the teams lost despite his fine coaching? - I think not. All I can say after this episode is that BCCI is like a dorm room; you can clean it up (employ a CEO) once in a while but for most part it stinks. So Whatmore is being dismissed because he let Habibul Bashar bowl first? What rot - Bangladesh lost becuase they batted ineptly, like they were in posession of a time machine that had rolled back the years to to 1995 when they were the punching bag for the rest of the teams. He improved 2 teams immeasurably, 2 sub-continental teams that came with their own baggage and more, he is almost tailor made to deal with cricket in India, and a cricket administration that is running away with the game rather than running the game. There seems to be a hidden agenda behind this appt, and the whole thing stinks to high heaven like an uncovered compost heap. In the US, people complain of the surfeit of reality shows replacing TV drama - in India, it is quite the reverse trend: we have too much of TV drama replacing reality. Isn't there a single election, a single appt, a single review, a single decision that can be pulled off in Indian cricket with some dignity? To quote Bonnie Tyler's lyrics from 'I need a Hero'
Where have all good men gone,
And where are all the gods?
Where's the street-wise Hercules
To fight the rising odds?'

I scarcely harbor any fond feelings for Indian cricket anymore. It is just too crass, too commercial and most importantly too unsuccessful. The proof of the pudding is not quite there in it's tasting and the BCCI is the latter year Marie Antoinette comfortable in the knowledge that the masses have no cake to eat if they don't have bread.

I totaaly agree with you. I think there has to be some credentials for coaching India and unfortunately Emburey has not done well in both his previous jobs as coach . In fact it is a foreigner they wanted they could have gone to any of the more successful foreigners . Unfortunately some people have construed your comments wrongly (including the commentator of England West Indies match )i.e. as if to say you are against a foreinor coaching India which is of course untrue

Indeed, SMG's opinions are important only when opening batsmanship is being discussed. Otherwise, he is the quintessential power broker who makes millions while delivering rubbish to the people.

Now why did Martin mis-read Mukul? Because Mukul had taken on a british gentleman recently who had objected to Sharad Pawar on the grounds that he is an Indian?... I do wonder.

This is a response to Chadders: I don't believe the senior Indian cricketers want a foreign coach because he can be manipulated, sidelined or tarred and feathered. If you look closely, no current Indian coach of any stature (barring Sandeep Patil) has the proven mentoring attitude and credentials to handle the job. And though volatile, it is one of the most powerful and high profile jobs in world cricket, and the former Indian players who consider themselves qualified are miffed because they are not getting a shot at it. I do believe the senior Indian players want a return to the John Wright era, with someone who has a lower media profile, does his job and leaves the shenanigans to the skipper, Selectors and the BCCI.

In John Emburey, the Indian cricketers will finally find a coach who won't -- even in passing -- question their attitude. May a thousand brands bloom! Whoever cares about cricket.

Mukul seema to have totally lost it at the moment. All he cares for is nationality...talent doesnt count for much in his books. Not that i am all for Emburey to coach India. But rejecting him just because he was "an English spinner" of a certain type is pure rubbish. I dont know how he has come to assume that without being a great player "of a certain sort" no doubt, you would not make a great coach... In truth, be it any game, the best coaches are rarely the best players. And yes, while Madan Lal may never be as great a bowler as some of the West Indian greats i have yet to see any of them shine in the field of coaching. Madan Lal may do well to apply for the job. They do need help!!!

Why not?
What do you look for in a coach?
Performing skills? Or ability to guide/ motivate?
If performing skills are important, then you should have a captain who is also the head coach; the best batsman in the country (today, and not yesteryears) as the batting coach; the best bowler available as the bowling coach; and the team's keeper as the keeping coach.

If I were to pick a coach, I would look at how he/ she (why not?) might be able to envision for the team; energize the players; and enable them to perform. In short coach the team, not lead the team.

That is why Jonty Rhodes makes a great fielding coach; he speaks and epitomizes the language of fitness and fielding. One can go ahead and name examples aplenty.

This is not a vote for Embers, but a definite no against equating coaching with playing effectiveness.

Why not foreign? I don't see anything right or wrong about being Indian or foreign, as long as they can communicate. This game fortunately has not gone so broad as to include nations where English is not taught/ spoken at all. If a coach can communicate with the players, understand their psyche, devise effective role maps, and motivate them to perform their roles effectively, she can be a very good coach.

For your information, I head an event management company, and we have a "personal consultant", who is a retired nurse from the Indian Army. She knows nothing about event management, but knows more about me and my employees than either me and my top management, or even the HR. Therefore, she is our designated coach.

Despite all the political underpinnings of the selection process, I am sure the committee will look for the right attributes, and not past glory in cricketing performance.

Well said Mukul. Clearly the reason Emburey has been picked is politics - someone doesn't like Dav Whatmore, and no prizes for guessing who. That same someone is so fiercely ....patriotic that he'd rather have Madan Lal coaching the Indian side than a coach who has won a World Cup and made Bangladesh a respectable one day side.

I think India definitely need a foreign coach - looking at the Indian side compared to Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka or New Zealand, it isn't so much talent that is lacking but discipline, training standards, long-term planning, innovative thinking and real strategic input.

But I have to say - average player? What's that got to do with it? What did John Buchanan ever do as a player? Or Bob Woolmer? Or Dav Whatmore? On the other hand, was Kapil Dev a great coach? Bedi? Rubbish.

Clearly the problem with Emburey is that he is an average coach, not that he was an average player. He's basically a space filler, put in there to make sure Dav Whatmore stays out.

Well,

This whole process of selecting the India coach has become a joke ......

Last time there was so much fanfare and so much publicity which was a bit too much . But this time absolutely nothing and thats only because of India's early exit from the World Cup.

All in all, it just doesn't seem like a genuine effort by the Board to try and choose the right man for the job. It wasn't so when Chapell was selected and it doesn't seem so now too.

But its not surprising given the ineptitude of the BCCI

Martin Williamson has obvioulsy mis-read the blog. Some bad blood between the english and Indian columnists it seems over the previuos "Pawar Vs Morgan" blog.
I think what Mukul is trying to say is that Embury 's being shortlisted is Sunil Gavaskar's way of getting back at the Inidan players and exercising his power. Mukul is obviously disappointed at Dav Whatmore being dropped and merely venting off some steam.

Emburey is a dull,stoic,fossil. A relic of the dull old era of English cricket. What an absurd choice! Dav Whatmore was the correct man from the beginning. Together with Ranatunge he transformed Sri Lanka's part time cricketers into world champions. In Bangladesh he brought respectability if not the WC trophy. He is SL/Australian, has played test cricket and likes to blood new talent. India's miss will be Pakistans gain.

I don't believe the article demands that the Indian coach be a great player at all. Just not someone who combines a poor coaching record (as Martin Williamson has already pointed out in his article) with an uninspiring mindset.

I don't think the point Kesavan is trying to make is that you have to be a brilliant player in order to be a great coach - just compare what Greg Chappell managed to do with India (or undo as in his case), and John Buchanan’s record since 1999 with Australia and Queensland before that. The first is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of his generation yet his coaching skills – particularly his appalling lack of man-management skills – is sub-standard. Buchanan never proved it as a test cricketer, but my word he knows how to coach a team.

Kesavan’s point is this: if the person being considered hasn’t really proved it as a player at the highest level, then the candidate should at least possess some sort of winning record in first class cricket in order to be prove that he can offer something of value to an international side. Emburey fits neither category so it is all the more baffling why he’s being talked of as potential coach – that, too, for a country notorious for it’s extremely passionate (bordering on psychotic) fans.

Fair enough I think.

Emburey's record is pretty poor and it will take a very brave cricket committee to pick him as the coach, but, as Martin Williamson said yesterday, I think Emburey is just a smoke screen; something to show the world that the BCCI are considering all options when they have more or less made up their mind on who should get the job.

From where i'm sitting, Gavaskar is the Neil Harvey of Indian cricket, slagging off when he feels like it. India cannot do any worse than Ford, who if you take out Australia, coached a nigh on unbeatable team and managed to mould the diverse band of egos into a good team. He seems to be the ideal back room man for Dravid. As for Emburey, why ask a coach with no semblance of Success to coach the most followed team in cricket?? It boggles the mind...

I remember not so long ago that Embury said India don't have any depth in their batting outside their top 4. Sure, Yuvraj and Dhoni just stand there don't they. If a guy who does not know anything about Indian players how can he be our coach.
Bring Ford in.

Hi
Why do you need a foreign coach when we have ample resources at our disposal in form of Former Indain Greats , is it the respect which we have for them , but again almost every country is in search of a Coach , are they considering an Indain for the same , that is the respect the foreign countries give to us , so what they feel about our greats!!!
As for the BCCI is concerned its like Ghar ki murgi Dal Barabar...

My first question is why India is looking for a foreign coach.I can't understand the logic for that.I beleive the coach's role is to communicate with the palyers and give them right direction and plans .There is no much contribution from a coach to improve the players batting ,bowling or feilding techniques.So a coach should possess positive attitude and he should be technically sound to plan and impliment strategies.Both these qualities are missing in Emburey.Emburey was negative as a bowler.Why can't we look for an Indian coach who can meet the requirement?Are Indians are so incapable?
I feel this is some thing fishy.Do BCCI really want to improve cricket -seems doubtful.

A few observations from an outsider who's wondering what the hell is going on at the BCCI.

Foreign coaches come without the pathetic internal politics. Indian cricket deserves a board which is open, honest and free of petty self interest and bickering. Until that is the case then Indian cricket won't be the force it should be.

Whoever gets the job needs to put the egos firmly in their place. India won the World Cup in 1983 because of teamwork. Eleven players on the field, not just three or four superstars.

A lot of former "great" players love to slate people and say "things were better in my day". Odd how those former "great" players never really had all that much success in the coaching arena.

Oh yes, John Emburey was vice captain on the 1986/7 Ashes tour. He's won a test series in Australia, the last time England won there. When did India last do that?

The BCCI seems in one hell of a mess. Greedy for money yet seemingly incapable of getting the best out of its players. Ask not who the coach should be and why but regardless of who that coach is, has he got a decent chance of improving things without political interference?

Somehow I don't think so.

SwamyCricketAnanda:

You are naive if you think Tom Moody was hired by Sri Lankan Cricket for "Political motives and PR reasons". This man was a part of a pretty sucessful Australian side from 1987 to 1999 before subsequently proving himself as a coach for Warwickshire. He had the credentials coming into the job.

Two years laters, the impact of his hiring was beyond expectations. As a Sri Lankan cricket fan for over 15 years, I can tell you, that he did more in two years than most others (excluding Dav Whatmore's first stint in SL) in similar positions.

A question that needs to be asked is this: "Is a coach really necessary for international teams?" Shane Warne would tell no, but he is a genius and doesn't know how it is like to possess mortal skills. Stephen Harmission, on the other hand, needs a coach (along with psychologist, but that is another story).

not appointing Whatmore who has proven track record with subcontinent teams is a huge mistake.

Mukul Kesavan teaches social history for a living and writes fiction when he can." Please teach and please don't write over exagerted articles in reader forums. Your articles are...fueling some confused ideas. Look at all the responses and they decide. Just wait for 2-3 days and you know what BCCI will decide, why do you have to create all this confusion among the minds of people. If you have to show your literary skills please trouble ur students in exams not the world wibe web plesae dont again write in cricinfo....

As pointed out by a few of the posters here it's not John Emburey's modest record as a player thats important...... but more importantly his track record as a coach which doesn't seem that great or may be we aren't aware of it !

Bang on mukul..Getting some one so insipid as emburey is to insult the legacy of indian spinners.I dont understand where he fares better than any of the great indian spinners..I feel Sunny is trying to impose his will on the team..this is as simple as that..

Navjot Singh Sidhu would have a thing or two to say about Embury.Whatmore should have been taken on as coach the last time itself.Just look at the results he has produced with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.Sunil Gavaskar and Captain Saurav Ganguly were the big backers of Greg Chappel last time.Ganguly got sacked and Gavaskar obviously felt threatened by Chappel.Why should Gavaskar have so much clout in the selection of the national coach?His dislike of everything Australian is well known.He must be atoning for his sins in selecting Greg Chappel.

I agree, Dav was probably the best choice if not the most convenient for the board or players as a proven success will be difficult to challenge for the players his word will carry much more weight then a total unknown.

Ford seems to be the popular choice as he will stay strictly behind the scenes

Emburey??????????????????????

Sunil Gavaskar was not in favour of Greg Chappell when the Aussie was made the coach of the Indian cricket team. It was Gavaskar who was not in favour of Dav Whatmore to succeed Chappell. In the light of cricketing judgement, it is very to little to argue with Gavaskar. But in both the cases, there is one common aspect. The greatest common factor is that both Chappell and Whatmore come from Australia. Was this a factor in not considering the case of Tom Moody?

The latest from the Little Master is the invite handed to John Emburey. There is no surprise with Emburey coming from England and not Australia. Is this the latest from the quiver of arrows that Gavaskar aims the Aussies with?

Gavaskar never misses a trick to take the Aussies to task. Few forget that it was Gavaskar who brought the notice of the ICC to the sledging of the Aussie cricket team. During the World Cup of 2007, he raked up the matter once again much to the chagrin of the Aussies and the non-Aussies alike.

It is very sensible to not ape the Aussies in every aspect of cricket. But are personal biases and prejudices taking the interest of the Indian cricket team into the dustbin?

Gavaskar has officially lost his mind or is very clever in trying to bring in a spinner as coach so he can recomend viswanath as batting coach. Donno what legendary indian spinners have to say on this.

Bit demeaning if anything. A letdown of sorts from you after your brilliant last piece.

Brilliant Mukul. Absolutely hit the nail on the head there. One has to wonder at the split personality of Mr Gavaskar here - on one hand he pontificates at length on what is best for Indian cricket and its future and on the other he so nonchalantly plays with it to satisfy his massive ego. I used to listen with interest to Gavaskar whenever he used to air his views as a commentator on ESPN and I must confess he used to sound sincere about being a wellwisher and being desperate to see India do well. Pray , why this then? Is it just a farce to make Graham Ford's election a bit more democratic, atleast to the public eye? I am so disillusioned already with the current Indian team and where they stand, Emburey being appointed would be the last straw. God help India.

Hi Mukul,
It is a great and insightful article. I think most of the people who commented on it are missing the point. The point is not Emburey, who cannot get the job, but Sunil Gavaskar and his tantrum-throwing mentality, no more mature than a six year old. Dilip Doshi's comment about him, that he always was a petty minded tyrant, comes to mind. Is he ever going to grow up? What are we still doing with this prima donna? Why cant he just stick with his stupid comments on-air, and leave us alone in piece? I always hit the mute button when he is on air, I just cannot bear his whining anymore. Remember the recent incident with his David Hookes comment? But there...picked a fight with the real tough guys, who put him firmly in place...

I totally agree with you that he may have struck off Whatmore for no reason other than to show everybody who the boss is....

I don't understand why people do not get the idea behind getting a foreign coach...its just that the foreigner would come (9.5 times out of 10) with no pre-conceived notions or no pre-formed alliances...and even Tiger Woods (if he is introduced to cricket tomorrow i.e.) knows that Indian Cricket needs that at the moment!

Mukul, you're dead right about whats going on. For starters, I have NO idea why Whatmore was dropped from the contention...some reports say that he knew the system of the subcontinents too well...and I always thought knowledge was a GOOD thing btw. Maybe he paid a price for not stroking every tom, dick and harry's ego in the BCCI well enough.

And I'm all for the school of thought that average players make fantastic coaches...and this is true for ANY kind of sport...but the principle should not be followed to that extent where we lose all sense of proportion and pick just anyone without even a credible CV. Its like picking a person for the job just because he was an average player and not because he's done a marvelous job of coaching some teams.

I hope Mr. Ford really gets the job...he was an average player...coached some teams wonderfully well and Eureka...he's a foreigner too! :-)

I dont have any objection with a foreign coach or an Indian coach. But Mr.Emburey doesnt really fit the bill for me. Maybe its because we havent heard much about him. But just for Indian Cricket sake "cant we really not find a good coach in INDIA". A country that can bring up brilliant coaches , can definately bring up one coach atleast!

Mukul - an excellent hypothesis. Gavaskar, Kapil, MadanLal, Wadekar etc. push themselves further towards irrelevancy with each egoistic and idiotic comment or 'move'. Gavaskar & Dev are 2 generations away from the present state of cricket. Also, as I have posted earlier, it blows my mind to see that India's 'Nero'ic agriculture minister is busy running cricket even as farmers continue to commit suicide in the absence of any safety net. And the Modis & Shah's are busy 'disciplining' Sachin etc. as they enjoy their 5 star hotel and business class airfare life.

The thought of Emburey as India's coach is laughable to say the least. I remember he toured India in '92/93, and Sidhu continually blasted him for sixes over the sightscreen like he was some club bowler! While that in itself does not make him ineligible for the post, I shudder to think how he would handle young spinners in the team! If Fletcher's defensive use of Monty is anything to go by, he would be a disaster! Cannot be more than a decoy, Gavaskar does say some crazy things but surely he is not this crazy!

For me, so much media attention and speculation for the selection of a coach is totally unnecessary. Amidst all the hype, Ford for me seems to have the best profile. Whatmore is good, agreed, but he has been coaching international teams for so long, he might not have enough fuel left to take up such a 'hazardous' job. A south african would certainly help developing some work ethic.

For all the talk of Indian coaches, I dont agree that you select a coach based on nationality alone. You just pick 4,5 best available coaches, and pick the best from among them - if he happens to be an Indian, all the better. But modern coaching techniques are quite different from what used to be the case when guys like Patil or Madan Lal played their Cricket. Such simple methods might not work today. And no one can argue that Indian Cricketers were never the most disciplined of the lot so choosing an Indian for the sake of it doesnt make sense. Let Ford take up the job, we need someone who works more and talks less - in fact, if he doesnt talk to the media at all, double his salary!

Hi,

I tell you.. all these are clowns and we are wasting our time. Starting from BCCI chief, Mr. Sunil Gavaskar, and till so called senior players (such as Tendulkar, Ganguly and Shewag)all are clowns... But smart clowns making lot of money...

We fools waste all our time discussing all about them. Useless...

I agree with the sentiment but disagree with the over-criticizing tone of the article. Emburey may or may not be a good coach but I think that he would not fit with what the Indians currently need. I think India need the aggression of an Aussie. Ford will probably be the choice. Sri Lanka are going after Aussie state coaches and India after English county coaches. Also, the reason for disqualifying Whatmnore was not justified. I think it was purely because gavaskar doesnt like him and he was the one who came up with Emburey. At some point in the future rebuilding phase we should look at getting Wright and/or Shastri back. Probably after all the big stars have retired after the next world cup.

I don't care about both the candidated up for coaching "Team India", what ever is left of it now. I certainly think this is a mockery, a well disguised political move to prove the point brought forth by Mukul himself. For someone who has actually brought Bangaladesh team to the point of recognition to the men who are struggling for self recognition is absolutely bloody shitty. Add to this the existence of still many great cricketers in such positions within India. The problem is BCCI is quite adverse to having strong men in positions of power, and that is the sad sad truth.

Its Gavaskar who has played the mischief in having Emburey's name crop up this is because the shortie ran out of ideas during the meeting. I cant understand why do they need to appoint him a as a member of the selection commitee. I think they need to have members from all the 4 regions. And kick Gavaskar out of the selection commitee. The Indian Team needs a coach with a good track record and people's skills. And I think Whatmore or Ford can do a much better job.

Mukul, an arrow on fish s eye. Well attacked, thats the word , yes it really is. Well said and documented about the English fragilities. Do we need a coach for our team who hasnt even had success with his own county teams ?

And this is not about foreign vs Indian coach, its about the adaptability factor. Indian coaches are simply conservative and when I say Indian coaches, they mean old tired horses like Patil, Amarnath , Madan Lal, Chauhan etc etc. And at their best they are overpaid comical experts of sissy news channels who see dark side of every thing happening in India. Do they deserve being a coach ? No.

Moreover Indian coaches have a resistance to the modern technology and they are not well trained enough to handle the responsibility.

And people have been yelling against Sunil Gavaskar here. i would like to say them have some respect against the greatest cricketer India has ever produced. He was the one who got the respect for the Indian cricket in 70s and the boom we see today (yes despite world cup failure too) is all his giving. But i was surprised to see him recommend a pretty ordinary Emburey for the coach. A gimmick ? Who knows ?

And guys please dont rant the same song -- sack seniors again on this space. Its not about them. Its about the coach, talk sensibly. And if you cannot stand the discussions in the forum then ship off rather than posting trash...

'Have you any special line?' asked the editor.
'Yes,' said the bright lad, 'I am rather good at invective.' 'Any
special kind of invective?' queried the man up top. 'No,' replied
our hero, 'just general invective.'
Wodehouse might well have been referring to Mukul.
Vitriol for the sake of it. Criticism of a far less personal nature against an Asian would be deemed racist.

i think this is all a farce that is going on behind the scenes....Dav Whatmore i feel was the best candidate to take up this job as his coaching credentials speak for themselves....maybe notg in terms of performance with a team like Bangla but the percentile growth achieved in terms of making them fiercely competetive in a scenario such as the world cup.if you HAVE to listen to Mr Gavaskar and shastri,then why bother to go to bangla and speak to that man???dont you have an idea as to what you want for the Indian team???and look at that Gavaskar's spine....he rubbishes Whatmore's name and suggests Emburey who's credentials suggest that he may not be the best on offer....i guess that leaves only one choice and thats Graham Ford!

Mr Kesavan's earlier writings were interesting reading and good, but now he degenerated into nothing but tripe and blind jingoistic nationalism. This will the last bit ... by him that I read. Mukul, go and take a break from cricket writing for a year or so until the fog clears from your head. Then come back and MAYBE you can put forth a coherent argument. Or better yet even then just keep your biased (even racist might be argued) opinions to yourself.

Just a couple of points about Mukul's article. First, there was no need to gratuitously insult Madan Lal in the process ;) And second, it is ironic that today is the anniversary of Gavaskar's infamous 36 not out in 60 overs in the inaugural match of the World Cup when chasing 334. For me, that spoke more about Gavaskar's character and the ineptness of India's cricket administration (then and now) than anything else that has gone on. And if anyone has any further illusions about Gavaskar regarding the well-being of Indian cricket, all they need to do is read Dilip Doshi's autobiography.

Could someone please point me to Martin Williamson's article which references this blogpost?

Thanks!

...Keep it up Mukul - we finally have a sensible, literate blog on this site.

I am seriously pissed off with the BCCI, espcially that so-called committee of former players and captains which has helped the BCCI select the coach. I think Gavaskar is a smart ass. I really respected him before he recommended the name of Embury. He is also my Dads hero. I really liked his way of speaking and his logic. But this is like getting too smart. Either he should explain why he thinks Embury is better than Dav Whatmore and have rather sane reasons behind it or I am going to think he is playing smart with us. Yes, Gavaskar played his heart out for India, I agree and that without Gavaskar-the batsman, we would be nowhere right now in world cricket. I should'nt say this probably and its going to hurt many of you guys and may be myself after i read this after a few weeks, but I feel sometimes that Gavaskar acts very selfishly. I remember reading the story when he took along with him the other guy at the non-striker when he was given out in a match. I mean that was sick. Who knows, how many such incidents would have happened in the back-room? I am not implying that because of some darks spots like these that Gavaskar is completely a bad person. No, he is absolutely pro-India and he has made India proud. But man, he is a real conundrum to understand. I mean why would you recommend Embury instead of Whatmore if you are not insane? It stinks! And the big bullies in BCCI are simply accepting his decision and calling Embury? I personally feel that Gavaskar or the board should clarify why they eliminated Whatmore from the race. I mean, its impossible to understand that one guy who is such a good coach and has got proven track record is being eliminated without any reason! What the .... The stories running around are that because of Dav's "over-eagerness" he lost the job. I mean are they kidding us? It must be such a humiliation for Dav. Poor guy has won the Sri-Lankan team the world cup and the only world cup to an non-aussie team in the past decade! And you guys give this kind of treatment to him? It really sucks. Also people might ask why I am picking on Gavaskar. Well, I do not have any personal grudges on him, but logically I do not see anyone other than him to dominate this committee of BCCI formed to pick the coach. I think everyone will agree that Gavsakar will have a huge say in this. And until he explains to every die hard cricket fan like us why he was against Whatmore and pro Embury, I am going to think that he is very selfish. Yes, I wanted to get this think out of my mind and this is a good place to vent my anger. May be you guys might not have thought about this, but this kind of thinking by Gavaskar stinks. It looks like he does not want India to win because he is not playing anymore or he is not involved with the Indian team as a coach . This is bad and I never thought I would say this against Gavaskar, but thats my frank opinion, if he fails to explain to us, of course through media, WHY EMBURY??

Peace

If Indian cricket has to improve then Gavaskar is the first perosn who should be kicked out from any position he holds in the BCCI.Gavaskar is the biggest hindrance to the development of Indian cricket with his dirty politics which he has practiced since his captain days and maybe Shastri should be the next...

Why has every decision to be taken in Indian cricket got to do something with the national pride and emotions? Why can't we sit down and think what will serve the Indian cricket most in the future? With due respect to Mohinder Amarnath, I still remember his short interview the last time he was being considered to replace John Wright. He said I don't have a "white skin" but I have a lot of other positives to offer. For me, it was nothing better than a politician trying to mobilise support in his favour.

I am completely baffled by the comment of Mr. Ramasi who said that BCCI and not the players should have a say in picking the coach! If that suggests that the BCCI is more concerned about the fate of Indian cricket than the players, then my advice to you would be to wake up and smell the coffee.

Last but not the least, this piece by Mukul was crap!

I'd prefer an Indian coach this time around, but it may not be a bad idea to get Emburey. We already have Robin singh and Prasad. May be get one for the batting too and let Emburey deal with the journalists and umpires.

If that is the thought process, may be we are on to something. Otherwise, I think you are correct. This is Gavaskar's way of protesting the obsession of foreign coaches. Get an average spinner form a country which is not really known for its spinning talents (unless it is spin of some other sorts).

I am not against foreign coaches and I think John Wright did a good job. But I don't get why India must insist on having a foreign coach in cricket.

Mukul, U got the title wrong again otherwise your frustration seems valid. Doesn't Cricinfo have an HR or a chief editor to put a check on the internal farce (Asians v/s Britts)? Maybe you are so much into BCCI that you are simply becoming them.

Coming to the 'coach'? These ludicrous administrators should define what the coach needs to do before they try and find one. A coach is a person, who gives directions, trains ,encouragement and finally motivates the pupil.

Lets look at the Indian team which basically has three groups 1) stars , 2) wannabe stars and 3) fresher's. And the coach who ever it may be offers his service accordingly to these groups

Stars - Motivation
Wannabies - Direction
Fresher's - Training and Encouragement

Stars likes of Sachin's, Ganguly's, Dravid's , Kumble's and Laxman's (Hmm!), they don't lack skills nor experience, only thing they would lack is motivation after achieving/non achieving all these years. So here where the coach comes into picture to motivate these immortal's to go get or inspire them to greater achievements.

Wannabe like Yuvi's, Bhajji's, Sehwag's, Zaheer's , Kaif's and Phatan's also have the skill but lack experience and don't know where to go when things go wrong, here the coach is gives them direction, if its a technical issue or their confused thought process. Help them handle the success and not loose the plot(Sehwags!)

Finally the fresher's like the Karthik's , Sreesanth's , Dhoni's or Munaf's, who are still in nascent stage of their careers, they will need a person or group which spot flaws/strengths in their natural talents and correct/nurture to enhance their cricketing skills and also encourage them to thrive.

In addition to the this , one dreaded thing the team India lacks the greatest is 'KILLER INSTINCT'. Is there any one individual (Indian/Foreigner) who can instill this in them? This is the question I will ask if I were in the selection committee.

Lastly coaches records as player may or may not matter, we have seen Buchanan's, Woolmer's, Fletcher's and at the same time we have seen Phil Jackson's, Lary Bird's and Mike Ditka's though not from Cricket!

You're right when you say Emburey was no more than average. But are India even average? And I can't think how Emburey would accept the offer; from coaching minor county sides to coaching India would be a downgrade.

Why not Steve Waugh as India's coach? He was a great player, mentally tough, has played competitive cricket till recently, has played with current players as well. I think he would be great!

Have been your supporter all along, Mukul, for thinking that you speak the common man's sporting language. But this post totally exasperates me. Exasperates me. Exasperates me.
Buchanan, Mukul? Tim Nielsen? Ah, and after all, what is the other option, Mukul? Graham Ford?
Get real. Coaching is a specialist job. Yes, one needs to know how to play the game, but one - please do note, more importantly - needs to know how to coach.

And yes, Graham Ford would be a better coach for the Indian team not because of any playing pedigree, but because he is a better coach.

Guys,
One missing point in all these discussions is the "vision" that the coach must bring to the team. Many Indians love to hate "Greg Chappel", but remember he really had a vision - the only trouble is none (except) Dravid could undersand it. Plan for the future. If Emburey has a better vision or strategy, then why not? (Am not saying this because it came from SMG ; Like most of you I wondered why he should be at the coach selection meetings - is it because that he was a great opening batsman or because he knew how to get into admin?)

Another rubbish piece from Mukul following his earlier ridiculous criticism of Andrew Miller. Mukul is not actually a bad writer if he were to limit himself to an occassional column. Emburey is not being hired as a bowling coach or even a spin bowling coach so Mukul's comparison that it is like Windies hiring Madan Lal is ridiculous. Emburey, if selected, will be over-all coach. That is, he will be coaching batsmen, bowlers, fielders, team strategy, etc. If a batsman can be hired as over-all coach so also bowler can be hired for the same.Also,it is not necessary that a coach should have been a great player himself. Infact it was held against Greg Chappell that his stature as a former great was intimidating to the Indian players. I think Mukul's original intention was to bring out the agendas and motivations of some members of the coach selection committe such as Gavasker and Kapil Dev. But he got distracted from his orginal aim and ended up with a needless persoanl attack on Emburey.

I am used to comments I isagree with from this writer, but we don't usually get him contradicting himself from his prevous post! He rightly has a go at his own colleague for an illogical and incoherent rant, and now he himself has one!

How can he suggest that because John was not a great player he will be a lousy coach- perhaps he thinks that about Duncan Fletcher, John Buchanan, Dav Whatmore, Tom Moody and Mickey Arthur?!

what makes his comment even more rediculous is that we have just had Greg Chsppell, who was undoubtedly one of the worlds best players of his time, and his record as coach was atrocious, destroying the careers of Ahshish Nehra, Sehwag, Ganguly, Tendulkar, Laxman, harbhajan, pathan, and all the others he discarded like Balaji, Raina, Kaif etc.

The Inconsistency of this writer is worse than the times of India.

Emburey must be having a very unimpressive resume but truly it doesn't matter much who coaches you in cricket. Buchanan wasn't a great coach before he coached the near invincible Aussies its merely the players' potential that is needed for anyone who can coach. Be it anyone all that a coach needs is a good relationship with players and respect from the players. Its good communication at the end of the day and yes a person with modern ideas like Sandeep Patil or Ravi Shastri would have easily got my vote.

There can possibly be four more reasons for inviting John Emburey for discussions.
1) Gavaskar wants only a failed foreign coach so that the newcomer will fail here and he can go back to his old refrain "A foreign coach cannot succeed in India. Bring back Indian coach."
2) Gavaskar wants to instill G.Vishwanath, his BIL as batting consultant so he prefers a bowling alrounder as a coach.
3) The coach selection committee did not do any groundwork and it was left to the players to do all the necessary research. To salvage some pride, the coach selection committee is trying to make it look as if it did have some ideas on its own ( bad ideas, though).
4) It can also be a gimmick just to have an extra contender in order to make the negotiations with Ford easy.

I think what Mr.B.R.Krishnan says is true..
Players can only give their opinion and its duty of the board to do all research and ground work for finding a good coach..

May be its inappropriate to put this comment here. But, the way BCCI keeps bungling these days under Pawar's leadership only goes on to show why under present situation, Sharad Pawar shouldnt ever become the ICC president.

This is not to support Andrew Miller's article though. A few of his phrases were in very bad taste.

Recently, the Indian government transferred hockey from top priority sport to a medium priority one, and soccer from a medium priority sport to a low priority one.

The way BCCI bungles on, its high time that cricket was put in a zero priority sport.

India comes to a standstill during a big cricket match. When the future of Indian cricket is dealt with so sadistically by a bunch of jokers, wonder whether all that is worth it.

Mukul, do we have a suitable Indian coach on the radar who can work well with the players, who is ept with the modern technology like video analysis, footage, is comfortable with operating "laptops" ? Barring Gavaskar, Shastri and to an extent Wadekar and Dev, I feel the usual suspects are inept. Their time is up and the modern day coaches require more than cricketing skills to be displayed behind the scenes to mentally toughen the cricketers ? Do any Indian coach has that skills ? Sandip Patil and Madan Lal ? Hiring them would be a joke.

And so would be for John Emburey. A coach has to be good in batting skills. He was a spinner and we have a bowling coach in Prasad and Indian spinners can teach Emburey a skill or 2 in spin bowling.

It amazes me so as to what made Gavaskar suggest name of Emburey. And Dav Whatmore too wasnt ideal one for Indian set up, for one he was quite familiar with the subcontinental conditions, his ideas are known to all teams barring Pakistan. and then he was over eager to board the ship.

He was rightly dumped. No qualms about it.

This is like cooking up an argument to fill up space in a blog. Emburey has lousy coaching track record and that alone is reason enough for him not to get the job. Being an average player has nothing do with how good a coach he can be. The best coaches have not been great players - John Buchanan, Bob woolmer, Dav whatmore, Tom Moody, graham ford etc etc. And great players have been coaching disasters - Greg Chappell, Javed Miandad, Kapil Dev to name a few.

As pointed out by several posts already, Emburey is similar to John Buchanan in that they were both county coaches with modest records, and Buchanan didn't even represent his country as a cricketer.

And we all know how bad Buchanan turned out to be as an international coach ...

Why waste time, hey Mukul? Get stuck into the whitie before he even has a chance to prove himself. And if it doesn't work out, there's the added bonus of being able to blame a foreigner (yet again) for the poor performances of the Indian team.

Mukul's reasoning for Emburey as a lamp post would have made sense if the choice was between an Amarnath or a Shastri and Emburey. But with the race being between Emburey and Ford, getting a lamp post makes sense if Sunny wants to make sure that Ford gets the job, not to jab a thumb in somebody's nose.
Actually, Graham Ford as coach would not be very different from having Mukul as coach: Mukul has had a high score of 14 in gully matches, Ford has a highest of 43 in SEVEN (and that is all he's ever played) first class matches. Imagine, a coach with an experience of just seven first class matches, no tests, no one days, coaching a
side with three players over 10000 runs in oneday cricket alone, and a test middle order which has 26000 test runs between them!!!
Emburey on the other hand, is widely credited with England's "sweeping victory" over India in the 1987 WC semis. England's batsmen were barely seen to employ the sweep during the group matches, and Abdul Qadir had them on the mat without any semblence of resistance. So, the Indian left arm spinners were taken by more than a bit of surprise when Gooch and Larkins swept them out of the world cup. Also, when India were batting, a 2 - 7 (2 on the off, 7 on the leg) field was employed when Emburey was bowling. For the first time since leg theory, has a field setting led to the laws of the game being changed: it has since been banned to have more than 5 players on the leg side at any stage of a one day match! Surely a cricketing brain that came up with two masterstrokes in one match is worthy of closer scrutiny, considering the experience of the "front runner". Emburey may not have had much coaching success, but that may not all have been his fault: he just might be the only "good workman" to have blamed his tools!

I think the whole picture is getting a little clear if we put a little thought. Emburey is undoubtedly a more than average off-spinner. I remember few weeks ago the BCCI had told that they are looking for a spin bowling coach. Its a bit weird but I guess we are looking are 4 coaches for India! 1. Ford- overall, 2. Emburey- Spin, 3. Robin- Fielding, 4. Prasad- Pace bowling. Its a case of too many cooks about to mess up the broth! If this is in BCCI's mind I think its lame. At such a case a single boss even Emburey for that matter would go a good job!

The most surprising thing of this search for coach saga has been that whoever has expressed his willingness to take up the job is not being considered. BCCI after the world cup debacle asked players not to speak to the media.Now they are sending messages to the international community that you cannot associate with indian cricket if you put up your hand to improve its present status. Sir Viv Richards expressed his willingness to take up the job during the world cup, he was not even considered. Whatmore had an exit that has raised many eyebrows. Coaching India is a pie, that everyone eyes. On one of the channels, former coach Madan Lal was smiling and willing to accept the job if was offered. He admitted that he was not good enough in his earlier stint, but now he has learnt the art of coaching. In WWE there is a mega event called ROYAL RUMBLE, where 20-30 wrestlers fight in one ring. Is it a similar situation? Then why leave John Emburey!!

It amuses me to see the number of people who are using the Emburey episode to have a go at Gavaskar - either in the form of innuendo as Kesavan has done, or downright name-calling as so many people in the Comments section have done.

They seem to forget that it was not just Sunny but also Kapil Dev who opposed Whatmore's appointment. In addition, it is widely documented that Gavaskar also opposed the appointment of Chappell so it is even more foolish to suggest he had anything to do with the hiring of Chappell.

As to the choice of Emburey, well stranger things have happened in Indian cricket, not least the appointment of an unscrupulous Australian who then proceeded to implement his own agenda of ruthlessly demolishing Indian cricket.

On a final note, it is probably only in India that players like Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Tendulkar etc, who would be looked up to as great players are routinely criticised while in countries like Australia, players like Ponting are lionized at the first available opportunity. The average Indian fan, it appears, is a firm believer in the story of the Indian crab and the need to implement it!

You have certainly hit the nail on the head here. Kudos to you!! Does Indian Cricket team really need a Foreign Coach??
What our team needs is a Mentor who can unite our players and most importantly their Larger than life star profiles and show them the right path. It is time for Indian Stalwarts like Kapil and Sunny to throw in their hat and be counted. Rather than selecting a coach they should be our bowling and batting coaches. For fielding and fitness who better than Azhar?(does it ring a bell!!)..
Come on BCCI, we have a bucket full of talent in house, and we want to go oversear for quenching our thirst. Let us pick a coach who is dedicated to the common cause of Indian Cricket - Return to Winning Ways.

The only person who should be considered from overseas is King Richards (Who Else)??
With a task to make the Indian Team play with the confidence and self belief..

That comment " Lets go to the battle with an Indian General and not with a Foriegn Mercenary"

We don't need comments like this, while we are talking about a game, which is played on PLAYground.

We are not selecting an Army General for your information.

May be the board is a bit harsh with Indian coaches. But there is nothing wrong in getting a foriegn coach. Generally they are mentally stronger than Indians.

John Wright is the First coach to lead an Indian Team with the beleif that they can win overseas.

Also regionalism is 95% possible with our Indian coaches.

There is a bowler called "Venkatapathy Raju" who was avery good left arm spinner ommitted just purely becos of regionalism.

Leave all that.

We have none who is mentally strong. Gavaskar can only talk in the TV and his columns. He was really a player for himself rather than the country.

We have a pool of talent, which ned motivation.

I see no Ex-Indian test player except Ravi Shasthri, to do anything good for the team.

I agree entirely with Mukul.Sadly the subtlety of his piece seems to have eluded some of us.Yes I think Gavaskar"s ego is assuming manic proportions.It makes him say inappropriate things like the reference he made to David Hookes.Now clearly he has an agenda that is self-serving and clearly not in the interests of the Indian cricket team.

I agree with some of the comments above - this is, as usual, a rubbish blog from Mukul. But journalists are paid to write something people would be tempted to read, so I wouldnt blame him. As for Emburey - his nomination was certainly a surprise to me. However, I think it would be foolish on the readers' part to denigrate his credentials based on his performance and playing days. People have written about his dour demeanour - what in hell do you know what Emburey is about?? What in hell do you know about playing cricket at the highest level, and who has what sort of a cricketing brain and influence? More importantly, how can we completely say that Gavaskar has lost it by nominating him - there were other captains too, remember - Shasti, Kapil - if Emburey were not capable at all, do you think they wouldve agreed to his name??

I dont think a player needs fantastic credentials as a player in order to be a good coach. Yes, we would prefer that he has a good coaching record. But a good investment is nothing before it is made - and after that, the investor is a whiz and the investment is a gold mine. So if even half of us give respect to our former players, why should we stop respecting their opinions now? Lets give our ex-captains' opinion a chance, and Emburey a chance to represent himself.

The article seems to suggest that indians are completely incapable of thinking objectively. What a coach has done as a player does not matter. Take John buchanan for e.g. The very fact that ego of a person is ruling over sense in making a very important decsion seems to be disgusting

Foreign coaches do come without any political baggage. But they might come with bigger egoes, esp. star coaches, and one doesn't have to look beyond our previous coach to know that its possible.
Former Indian Greats like Kapil haven't proven to be great coaches either and they run the risk of being labelled biased in any case.
It's a tough call to make for anyone in the chair to select the right candidate. While it is easy to question the integrity of SMG over his choice of Embury, let's not eat away into his career - I saw people quoting doshi et al. - while doshi was an excellent bowler, his contribution to Indian cricket has basically been zilch, in comparison to SMG (anyone care to tell me what has he done for Indian cricket since retirement); while scoring 36 in 174 balls is always going to be discussed, let us not forget that the man is the best opener world cricket has seen in a long time.
As a commentator, his observations are spot on, most of the time, his so called agenda against aussies not withstanding (I know he did go overboard with Hookes, but he's generally been right about their on field behaviour).
So let's not criticize him for nominating Embury coz may be even he knows Ford is a better bet than Embury.

West Indian fans would certainly be entitled to look reproachfully at Holding, Bishop and Roberts and ask: why is Madan Lal shortlisted for the job of coaching the West Indies, because India simply doesn't have any comparable great bowlers in her history. All she has is a great allrounder - Kapil Dev and two diminuitive batsmen - Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar.

Again Mukul has constructed a valid argument whose foundations are built on counterfeit rationale.
This attack on another tired old Pom is so obviously a hangover from yesterday's tirade against Andrew Miller that Mukul is running the risk of becoming redundant in the Cricinfo scheme of things. What he continues to ignore is the wisdom that all this negativity he continues to heap on all and sundry is as symptomatic of India's failure in the modern arena as Pawar's greed, or Tendulkar's hypersensitivity.

More than a few people recently identified Karma as the reason why India failed where Australia succeeded in the last World Cup - see Gavaskar's counterproductive muck racking or Mukul's own one eyed diatribes.

Yet Mukul continues to play the tabloid journalistic game of indiscrimminate criticism of anyone who doesn't beat the Bharatan breast, completely at odds with the rich history of truth and balance for which India is rightly renowned.

Hardly the ingredients for creating a positive effect on the ethos of cricket in your country Mukul. You strike me as as a man whose brittle brown carapace hides a lily white centre. A veritable 'bounty bar' of self sabotage whose fervent rooting for India, lacks the intellectual grvitas sufficient to root yourself.

Some of the criticism of Emburey's coaching record is completely ill informed. Middlesex were in dire straits when Emburey took over. He guided them to the first division of the championship and one day league and nurtured a number of young batsman like Strauss, Shah, Joyce, Dalrymple and Morgan. A bit of balance please.

Mukul is an original thinker. He is one of the few who pointed out the palace intrigue stye of functioning in Greg. He is again bang on target. Keep it up Mukul.

Mukul, you have a point. I hoped you would elaborate a little more on coaching credentials. Inevitably, people are going to link this article to the last one and argue that this is an attack on foreigners, especially englishmen.

So what do we want in a coach? Lets forget about what the players want for a moment and what BCCI wants. Both of them have ulterior motives in picking a certain kind of person for the post.

Before talking about desirable characterristics, couple of myths:
1. Great former players make great coach.
2. Great former players do not make great coach.

On the face of it, it might sound stupid but if you look at the successful coaches over the last few decades, prior performance has not proved to be a distinctive factor for coaches nor has lack of experience of international cricket been a hindrance to success. It is unfair to target Emburey over his record as a player because a lot of the successful coaches of the modern generation would not pass that test either.

So what are we looking for in cricket coach, especially for a national team.
1. Proven credentials as a coach
2. Communication skills (lets learn from Chappel experience)
3. Someone who can build a team environment and team spirit in the dressing room

Emburey fails on all three aspects. Those who claim that even Buchanan was fired before he coached Australia, please realize that being fired as a coach does not guarantee success as a national coach. Give credit to Buchanan for his success but lets not start saying that being fired is a plus point.

I am also not in favor of most of the former indian cricketers as coach, again on similar grounds.

Most of them have no professional experience as a coach and that itself should bar them from getting this job. Moreover, all of them would have a personal baggage of their history. All of them would have points to prove beyond performance of the team and we certainly do not want to see the coach and the team being distracted by that.

I would rather go for an unknown person with proven credential if creating a successful team, even if it is at provincial level. The charateristics of success do not change, only the stakes are higher.

And for a change, how about grooming successors like some of the teams have done in recent past? At least we won't be facing the same problem in another two years.

As we all know, media will keep focussing on the issue of national origin, and why not? It sells.

I hope, writers like you, would carry on with the independent spirit and keep offering an unbiased perspective.

Spot on..The analogy is just brilliant.. .I blame Sunil(the great)Gavaskar for this new absurdity in Coach's selection.After seeing what happened to Whatmore, I wouldn't be least surprised if Emburey becomes the Coach.My speculation is that Whatmore was kicked out because the day before the previous meeting the ever garrulous BCCI secretary Shah said that whatmore was the front runner and the 'Experts' on all news channels including Kapil Dev seemed to indicate that that the commitee is just a cover up and Whatmore has almost been appointed.. Now just to show that they can't be dictated too, the commitee rejected Whatmore.By the Way, I'm no big fan of Whatmore and I wouldn't have been unhappy if Whatmore had been rejected and another worthy canditate had been named after the first meeting. What really upset me that a person (with due respect) with absolutely dismal coaching credentials has suddenly become a hot contender..Strange all the ways of our billion$ Cricket board.

Mukul correctly points out that the entire coach hiring saga has been a mess. In fact it smacks appears very unprofessional in terms of hiring procedures. I dont think BCCI covers itself in glory when it makes all this fuss about Whatmore and then does not even have the decency to let hom know when he was dropped abruptly due to board politics. However I wont blame Gavaskar as there are others more powerful in BCCI like Pawar and his pet poodles Srinivisan,Shah and Modi- who are controlling everything that happens in BCCI from the background today. In my view all serious candidates (including Dave Whatmore, Madan Lal,Graham Ford,Emburey) should have been asked to appear for interviews with BCCI. In fact Gavaskar and Shastri need not have been part of the interview board if he had reservation about any candidate.

In general over last couple of years there has been a steep downslide under Pawar team. I think administrative aspects in BCCI during Dalmiya tenure were far superior to the current team under Pawar. These jokers only understand backstabbing, manipulation and politics.