Duncan Fletcher Appointed as India Coach

[Jono]

Possible but somehow I doubt it. I know the contract is for two years but I put the over/under at like 7 months.

Completely the wrong personality.

7 months? Lol you're crazy.

Chappell was coach of India for over 2 years!

 

[keeper]

Interesting stuff.

Continuity of planning and thinking is a good thing but can't step over into nepotism of course.

Adds a bit of vim to this summer's series I think.

 

[Turbinator]

Hmm, don't know how I feel about this. Was hoping for someone like Stephen Fleming myself. ****

Can't wait to beat the living daylights out of England though. Should be fun

 

[silentstriker]

7 months? Lol you're crazy.

Chappell was coach of India for over 2 years!

Yea you're right. But the expectations are also higher now.

 

[Woodster]

When Duncan Fletcher took over at England, there was much for him to do. We were ranked down among the worst sides in Test cricket and his aim was clear in trying to improve our standings in both forms on a gradual basis. He forged two excellent partnerships with the respective captains, firstly Nasser Hussain then Michael Vaughan, in themselves two very different leaders, which in itself shows the flexibilty Fletcher possesses and recognition of what the side needs at different times. Currently with India there is not too much to improve upon, they are leading the way in Test cricket and have recently won the World Cup, surely the only way is down ?

For Fletcher he must maintain the current momentum, he has vast experience and a deep understanding of the game, but is continuing what they already have a challenge enough ? His relationship with MS Dhoni will be important, but the crucial stage will come in integrating younger players into the side when the inevitable retirements of Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, maybe Zaheer arrive. Fletcher's experience and know-how will be key during this phase. His renowned ability for being able to identify the right talent for a particular role will be under severe scrutiny from the entire nation, it may be during this integration period that his tenure as coach of India will be judged, and perhaps one of the main reasons the BCCI have opted for this shrewd coach.

 

[Bun]

Guy's quite old, isn't he? He has a reasonably good record anyways. If he leaves the seniors to themselves, he'd done half his job well. He can concentrate on the younglings and mould them rather than impose his will on the team as a whole.

 

[Sanz]

When Duncan Fletcher took over at England, there was much for him to do. We were ranked down among the worst sides in Test cricket and his aim was clear in trying to improve our standings in both forms on a gradual basis. He forged two excellent partnerships with the respective captains, firstly Nasser Hussain then Michael Vaughan, in themselves two very different leaders, which in itself shows the flexibilty Fletcher possesses and recognition of what the side needs at different times. Currently with India there is not too much to improve upon, they are leading the way in Test cricket and have recently won the World Cup, surely the only way is down ?

For Fletcher he must maintain the current momentum, he has vast experience and a deep understanding of the game, but is continuing what they already have a challenge enough ? His relationship with MS Dhoni will be important, but the crucial stage will come in integrating younger players into the side when the inevitable retirements of Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, maybe Zaheer arrive. Fletcher's experience and know-how will be key during this phase. His renowned ability for being able to identify the right talent for a particular role will be under severe scrutiny from the entire nation, it may be during this integration period that his tenure as coach of India will be judged, and perhaps one of the main reasons the BCCI have opted for this shrewd coach.

Great post.

 

[GIMH]

Hmm, don't know how I feel about this. Was hoping for someone like Stephen Fleming myself. ****

Can't wait to beat the living daylights out of England though. Should be fun

You'll have a long wait

 

[BoyBrumby]

I think Dunc's a great technical and tactical coach, but personality wise a lot will depend on his relationship with his skipper.

Dhoni's coming from a position of strength, so I wouldn't expect him to be happy just to be dictated to. It should also be noted that Dunc got along with Nasser very well and, whatever his virtues, Nass wasn't backward in coming forward with an opinion of his own, so Fletcher is probably more of a diplomat than he might be given credit for.

The other thing to consider is that India might need to rebuild sooner rather than later & there's no better man than the big fella for that.

 

[fredfertang]

I wonder if Cumberland would be prepared to release Gary Pratt for some twelfth man duties later this summer?

 

[shankar]

I think Dunc's a great technical and tactical coach, but personality wise a lot will depend on his relationship with his skipper.

That's good to know. The Indian setup needs someone who's tactically smart which is why I was hoping Fleming would get the job.

 

[vcs]

That's good to know. The Indian setup needs someone who's tactically smart which is why I was hoping Fleming would get the job.

AWTA. That has to constitute part of the explanation for India producing good results in recent times despite having, overall, a fairly mediocre attack.. an ability to get the job done on the field. Take wickets by setting boring/negative fields, exploiting weaknesses of individual batsmen.. basically do whatever it takes. The batsmen are experienced and good enough to adjust on their own, and anyway that's an individual job.

 

[keeper]

AWTA. That has to constitute part of the explanation for India producing good results in recent times despite having, overall, a fairly mediocre attack.. an ability to get the job done on the field. Take wickets by setting boring/negative fields, exploiting weaknesses of individual batsmen.. basically do whatever it takes. The batsmen are experienced and good enough to adjust on their own, and anyway that's an individual job.

Are there other areas India could improve in - say, fitness or fielding?

A good coach will leave alone the stuff that works well and look for the gaps.

 

[shankar]

AWTA. That has to constitute part of the explanation for India producing good results in recent times despite having, overall, a fairly mediocre attack.. an ability to get the job done on the field. Take wickets by setting boring/negative fields, exploiting weaknesses of individual batsmen.. basically do whatever it takes. The batsmen are experienced and good enough to adjust on their own, and anyway that's an individual job.

Yeah, working out batsmen with well-defined plans is something that we rarely do well. Usually it's each individual bowler for himself, just hoping to bowl a wicket-taking delivery out of nowhere (that's what it seems like at least).

 

[Shri]

Yeah, working out batsmen with well-defined plans is something that we rarely do well. Usually it's each individual bowler for himself, just hoping to bowl a wicket-taking delivery out of nowhere (that's what it seems like at least).

Nah, Zaheer handles a lot of the bowling plans according to Dhoni iirc.

 

[vcs]

Yeah, working out batsmen with well-defined plans is something that we rarely do well. Usually it's each individual bowler for himself, just hoping to bowl a wicket-taking delivery out of nowhere (that's what it seems like at least).

Yeah, as Shri said, Zaheer seems to be the brains of the attack. But even with him out, we produce some good performances when we really need it (see 3rd Test in SL and 3rd Test against NZ last year).

 

[shankar]

Nah, Zaheer handles a lot of the bowling plans according to Dhoni iirc.

I'm sure they have some sort of plan - It's rarely either more than the basic or out of the box. Apart from Zaheer the rest are also too inaccurate to stick to a plan I suppose.

 

[shankar]

Yeah, as Shri said, Zaheer seems to be the brains of the attack. But even with him out, we produce some good performances when we really need it (see 3rd Test in SL and 3rd Test against NZ last year).

I guess they're quite an improvisational (if that's an appropriate word) bowling attack. So maybe going out with well-set plans is something that's not suited to them.

 

[Furball]

Yeah, as Shri said, Zaheer seems to be the brains of the attack. But even with him out, we produce some good performances when we really need it (see 3rd Test in SL and 3rd Test against NZ last year).

You also had this hilarious performance

IMO, Fletcher might be the right man at the wrong time - given how well he rebuilt England, he might have been better off taking the job in a year or so.

 

[vcs]

You also had this hilarious performance

IMO, Fletcher might be the right man at the wrong time - given how well he rebuilt England, he might have been better off taking the job in a year or so.

Haha, true. Against a pretty awesome batting lineup, in fairness. Our fringe bowlers only turn up when the series is on the line, anyway.