The Indian cricket ethos of a few decades ago was very different. We were a bunch of amateurs playing to enjoy the game. Advice was given both on and off the field irrespective of which side you were on.
Pakistan’s Asif Iqbal, quoting the late Sir Don Bradman, once told me ‘the chance of the ball finding the edge against a dead straight bat is negligible’. Alvin Kallicharan walked up to me after a Clarke bouncer had sailed past my ears and said, “Sway mon, don’t duck to Clarky.’
M.L. Jaisimha would often tell our youngsters that if they hit a bad patch and had to play on rank bad turners or seaming English wickets, then they should drop their back lift till they rediscovered their tempo. It tightens the game and reduces the quantum of errors by preventing the bat from following the away moving ball and reduces the arc of the bat coming down and across.
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Add to this the Nawab asking me to square cut to covers and we had an atmosphere that throbbed with cricket wisdom. We were brought up on a game that was technical but the advice was always practical and ever since my outlook to cricketing solutions has always been practical.
When I mooted the need of a non-partisan think-tank reporting to the coach, captain, selectors and the board members to throw up game plans, ideas and solutions, I had suggested that it sit on the outside, away from the team. The BCCI has done just the opposite.
It has created a think-tank and placed it on the inside thereby confusing the players about the chain of command whilst riddling the dressing room with extra politics.
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Today the boys will not know who to go to for advice: the bowling/batting coach, the head coach Duncan Fletcher or the Director Ravi Shastri. The entire think-tank should report to Shastri who can then use his tact, wisdom, acumen and experience to speak to the captain, the individual players, the selectors and the administrators.
Shastri has the uncanny knack of finding practical solutions for most problems and that’s exactly what Indian cricket needs. He is the perfect link between the cricketers, the cricket and its administrators. He has the knack of being in the right place and saying the right things, every time. He is respected and heard by both the players and the administrators.
I heard him speak on television recently where he said that he would bring in fast bowlers into the first-class circuit, etc. It is clear that he places the onus squarely on the shoulders of the players for the dismal performance in England. But I know him well and I can bet my last dollar that he knows that the ills of Indian cricket rest with the system and he will need to change that before he starts working on the players.
No clear-cut definitionThere being no clear-cut definition of the position of the coach in the players’ contract, it becomes very difficult for Duncan Fletcher, especially in an Indian Test side filled with superstars, to perform effectively.
Further, he being an outsider would not know of the intricacies of playing cricket in India and would then not understand the problems of being an Indian cricketer.
And then to ask him to handle a team in a crisis, comprising players who are diverse in culture and afflicted by the inherent divides and conflicts that sit in the back of every Indian subconscious mind, was asking for too much.
Fletcher can only be fairly judged if he was given clearly defined short and long term goals in his contract. If he wasn’t then there is no yardstick to measure his success and failure. Under such a situation it would be unethical to judge him and diabolical to sacrifice him for the team’s failures.
If India wants its glory back, remove the clutter from the dressing room and make Ravi Shastri the sole proprietor of all that moves within. Back him with a solid non-partisan think-tank. Give him both time and a super financial incentive. Sit back and watch the fun.
Saad Bin Jung is a former first-class cricketer