With Mahendra Singh Dhoni leading a second-string team to Zimbabwe, the appointment of a new coach appears to be attracting more attention than India’s return to international cricket.
The same was reflected in Dhoni’s interaction with the media on Tuesday. He didn’t react to Ravi Shastri’s recent views about the need for Virat Kohli to be elevated as captain across all three formats but did specify that the head coach shouldn’t necessarily be Indian but should be well-acquainted with the diverse Indian culture.
“One of the most important things is that they understand our culture. More than (knowing) Hindi or English, the one who understands our culture, upbringing and those sorts of things, he will be better for us,” said Dhoni.
“In the past, too, these things were important, and when there were coaches who understood better, there was a difference on the ground.”
Dhoni also hinted that the BCCI’s decision to invite applications was sparked off due to the unavailability of overseas coaches.
Over the last year, the BCCI is understood to have been in discussion with names like Ricky Ponting, Stephen Fleming, Tom Moody and Daniel Vettori but they didn’t show much interest citing the pressure and rigours of India’s international calendar.
“It’s not like everyone wants to be the coach, there’s a reason behind it. You have your own family. It’s not like we are playing for six months and not playing for two months, we keep playing,” Dhoni said.
“For lots of international coaches, the problem is that we play a lot of cricket. From an availability point of view, we will have to see what the best option for the team is.”
The BCCI’s advertisement seeking applications for a coach mentions that knowledge of a regional Indian language is better for the applicants.
Asked if an Indian coach is better for the team, Dhoni said: “I think there is no big problem with communication. You have seen, with the kind of players coming in, English is not a big barrier. The other players in the team take the initiative, too,” he said. “If someone doesn’t understand something, they ask ‘what does this mean?’
“I feel, it can be one of the criteria, but it can’t be the only criterion that Hindi-speaking is important. From the team’s perspective, what is important is what it needs. And according to that, we have to select whoever is the best available.”
