WHY the Indian men’s team coaching job is the most talked-about and most sought-after can be gauged from the amount of interest it has generated among former players around the globe. The BCCI is going about the process of finding the successor of Rahul Dravid in a meticulous manner, following all the processes but the stories revolving around some names shows the willingness of foreign players to take up the prestigious job. Reports have been doing rounds of some or other BCCI official sounding to some former Australian or other retired icons for the job. Following the reports are the rebuttal by the BCCI big-wigs as well as the players who prefer to adopt a wait and watch policy. The next few days would be interesting for the fans and also the cricket experts who have put their stakes on certain names to take over Dravid’s job after the ICC World Twenty20 Championships. And to top it all, Dravid who has been given an extension till the WT20 tournament, himself has yet not reapplied for the post. Interesting times ahead! There is growing demand for foreign coaches among the experts who have backed a few Australians including Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey to take over the job of managing the dressing room.

 

The front-runner, though, remains Gautam Gambhir who mentored the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League campaign. Another name doing the rounds of VVS Laxman whose stint at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) will come to end in September. If Laxman chooses to apply for the job by the Monday deadline, he would be the hot favourite for the coach’s job because of his previous experience. In the absence of Dravid, it was Laxman who took over as interim coach of the senior team in some tournaments. However, given the stress, pulls and pressures the head coach’s job brings, it is unlikely that Laxman would throw his hat in the ring. The coach hunt, thus, is still at a level of conjectures.

 

While the BCCI would definitely take into account the preference of senior players in the team before picking the new coach, there are many things that the selection panel would have to take into account. The Board did well to convince Dravid for the high-profile job for the entire tenure but it will have to again assess the prevailing atmosphere, individual choices and also the future of Indian cricket before handing the team to its choice. There are lessons to be drawn from the earlier experiences, especially the Anil Kumble coaching saga which ended in a bitter manner. While the early talk of the fire-n-ice combination of Kumble and Virat Kohli quickly dissipated, the Board had to deal with ego issues putting all stakeholders to great discomfiture. The Indian dressing room is a difficult place to manage and the BCCI would do really well to screen the chemistry of their choice with the players. Nothing comes easy in Indian cricket!