Ending speculation about coach Duncan Fletcher’s role in the five one-dayers against England, Indian skipper M.S. Dhoni, on Sunday, said that the Zimbabwean will stay on as “boss” of the team until the 2015 World Cup.
After the 3-1 Test debacle, Team India witnessed a major reshuffle on the coaching front with bowling coach Joe Dawes and fielding consultant Trevor Penney forced to go on a break and BCCI appointing Ravi Shastri as the team director. But, on the eve of the first ODI here on Monday, Dhoni said that Fletcher is still “the boss”.
“He will lead us into the World Cup,” said Dhoni, referring to the coach. “Also, he is still the boss. We have Ravi Shastri who will look into everything, but Fletcher is the boss. It’s not as if his powers or his position has been curtailed. I don’t know what you feel from the outside, but operations still remain the same. We have a few other support staff coming into the dressing room, but overall the operation remains the same.”
After taking over his director’s role, Shastri did mention that the new coaching staff, including Fletcher, will report to him during the limited-overs series.
After Dawes and Penney’s ouster, former India all-rounder Sanjay Bangar and ex-paceman Bharat Arun were appointed assistant coaches, with R. Sridhar as the fielding coach.
Dhoni, though, clarified that Shastri’s role is more of a manager.
“Ravi is here to oversee the operations from the outside, what he feels and everything else. It’s good to have him. He is a very proud (former) Indian cricketer, and at the same time, very positive.
“He believes a lot in fighting and having the right instincts, going over and giving his hundred percent.
“It is obviously good to have him. He also speaks the same language and can interact a lot with the players. Same is the case with other support staff, so it is good to have them here,” said Dhoni.
When asked if he was happy with the timing of the changes, the skipper replied, “It’s a bit tough on Trevor (Penney) and Joe (Dawes), especially when fielders drop catches and the fielding coach has to miss the series. But, let’s hope for the best.
“We are welcoming the new guys because that is very important. They will be part of the dressing room family as of now. We will have to give them some time to adjust to how we operate, and see what kind of input they bring to the table.”
Fresh beginning Meanwhile, India will look to make a fresh beginning and salvage lost pride in the five-match ODI series. The selectors have taken stock of the situation at hand and the 17-man squad is a reflection of their thoughts.
Sanju Samson and Karn Sharma represent their line of thinking in that the squad will need an additional wicketkeeper as well as a probable third spin-bowling all-round option. But there is a question mark over how many opportunities these two youngsters will get in the current five-match series.
For England, this series bears similarity to the Tests because it was beaten by Sri Lanka before and now has to turn it around against India. Like everyone else, it too has the World Cup rider attached to it, more so because this is the final outing at home before the big tournament.
The teams (from):
India: M.S. Dhoni (capt. & w/k), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Stuart Binny, Sanju Samson Viswanadh, R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Karn Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Shami, Dhawal Kulkarni and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
England: Alastair Cook (capt.), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Jos Buttler (w/k), Steven Finn, Harry Gurney, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Eoin Morgan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, James Tredwell and Chris Woakes.
