It's the foreign coach , stupid !

[SJS]

Aha. BCCI finds the scapego... . . . errr . . . The solution to its cricket team's poor performance . . .

It's the man responsible for all our cricketing ills - Duncan Gora Fletcher the SOB he hasn't scored a single run, taken a single wicket and held not a single catch since he has joined the team. Off with his head . . .

Ravi Shastri who has done such unbelievable service to Indian cricket along with that other 'selfless' servant of the game in mera Mahan Bharat, the legendary Sunny Gavaskar from the commentary box will now coach the team . Of course Gavaskar was always right, the 'goras' are the problem. Bring Indian blood at the helm. We have in Srinivasan, Pawar, Lalit Modi and Dalmia so many sons of the soil doing 'selfless service' with no vested interest. Why should this job be left to go
ras. Let these dollars flow to Indian accounts as well.

As for the team and it's performance . . . Give them time they are still young and have a long way to go.

For all those who were wondering why Ravi Shastri was soft pedaling the team (as were some other former 'greats' I hope you now have the answers . . . It's the moolah stupid !!!

Duncan Fletcher has no powers left whatsoever: BCCI official | The Indian Express

 

[Jono]

This is the bloke that sat over 0-4 Eng, 0-4 Aus, 1-2 Eng in Ind, 0-1 NZ and 1-3 Eng yeah?

Yeah he's being harshly dealt with here...

 

[mono]

Fletcher's record looks pretty damning, that much is true. But how on earth can anyone expect Ravi Shastri to do better. Firstly, he's very much in BCCI's pocket and has been for ever and ever. Secondly, if his commentary is anything to go by, his coaching advise is going to be nothing more than a deluge of platitudes.

Well, it could have been worse. they could have appointed Harsha Bogle :P

 

[Jono]

This whole "in the BCCI's pocket" point. They're the ones that pay the coach. Every coach we name is in the BCCI's pocket.

 

[mono]

This whole "in the BCCI's pocket" point. They're the ones that pay the coach. Every coach we name is in the BCCI's pocket.

Not necessarily.it's not just a matter of who's paying whom. Someone like Kirsten would have enjoyed a measure of independance, because he can easily find another top tier job if he was unsatisfied with how the BCCI treated him. Shastri on the other hand is fairly unemployable outside the BCCI. In fact shastri's career has been built on towing the BCCI line.

 

[Jono]

Possibly, you may be right. But I get the feeling if the BCCI want something to happen (selections, captaincy choice etc.) it will happen, whether Kirsten is coach or pissant Ravi is calling the shots.

Ravi is a **** choice to run Indian cricket but let's not pretend like Fletcher has been a successful coach and let him off the hook. He is seriously lucky to have lasted this long (as have others like Dhoni).

 

[mono]

Possibly, you may be right. But I get the feeling if the BCCI want something to happen (selections, captaincy choice etc.) it will happen, whether Kirsten is coach or pissant Ravi is calling the shots.

Ravi is a **** choice to run Indian cricket but let's not pretend like Fletcher has been a successful coach and let him off the hook. He is seriously lucky to have lasted this long (as have others like Dhoni).

Very true.

But i think dhoni's case is a little different. Who'd really replace him. Being captain india is only part cricket. the other part is about handle the dog & pony show that surrounds the cricket. Dhoni does this very well. I really don't see anyone being capable to doing this in the current indian setup, with the possible exception of Ashwin.

 

[hendrix]

The coach should be responsible for overseeing the team and squad selections. While it's unclear how much power Fletcher has in that regard, if he's not doing that then I don't really know what his role has been. There are plenty of batting, bowling, fielding and video analysis gurus out there.

It's up to him to stamp his foot and sort out the way the teams are being selected - which I think has been India's biggest failing in recent times. If he can't do that then there's no point in him being there.

 

[Arachnodouche]

The coach should be responsible for overseeing the team and squad selections. While it's unclear how much power Fletcher has in that regard, if he's not doing that then I don't really know what his role has been. There are plenty of batting, bowling, fielding and video analysis gurus out there.

It's up to him to stamp his foot and sort out the way the teams are being selected - which I think has been India's biggest failing in recent times. If he can't do that then there's no point in him being there.

These guys are prima donnas here. You need a coach with some force of personality and a little spunk to go with international credibility for these people to give half a ****. Sourav Ganguly would be a good choice but I don't know if he's ever considered coaching.

 

[Debris]

I don't really pay close attention to coaches. Who are the successful foreign coaches we can point at?

 

[Jono]

Kirsten and John Wright

 

[bagapath]

Hi SJS sir. Good to connect with you after a long time.

As always, your point about BCCI finding a scapegoat is correct.

However, Ravi - I don't know him personally but we do have hell a lot of common friends - seems to me, to be a straight shooter most of the time. The fact that he doesn't give a damn about the internet jokes on his commentary - just like he never gave a damn about 70,000 fellow countrymen shouting "hai hai Shastri" during his playing days - shows his inner steel and I totally respect that.

He is very happy to promote IPL (which I don't follow at all, right from its first season) and be his employer's mouthpiece. What is wrong with that? After all, this team also plays for the same employer. This behavior of his is not pretty but at least it is consistent. And, what if he actually loved IPL? It is a possibility that we have to consider before we guillotine him for screeching about it.

Unlike Sunny with the forex found in his locker, there is not even one case against Shastri to hint that he could be corrupt. In fact, the Tehelka videos prove that he was a ballsy, honest cricketer who never went after ill gotten money sacrificing his core values.

He is a good choice to coach the team because he has the respect of the team. Being an over achiever himself, he can push those under performers and get the best out of them.

I am not saying I love the move. But I am kinda okay with it. That's all.

 

[Furball]

Can we not throw around the "gora" term so casually next time?

 

[OverratedSanity]

Are there any negative connotations associated with Gora? It basically means white. What's offensive about that? Not trolling, genuinely don't know the context. Only recently found out "****" is pretty offensive too

Edit: It got filtered.
Wow never knew it was that bad.

 

[wpdavid]

I don't really pay close attention to coaches. Who are the successful foreign coaches we can point at?

Flower did a more than decent job with England for about three years.
Ditto Duncan Fletcher for about six years.

 

[cnerd123]

Any coach appointed by the BCCI is going to be relatively powerless. You gotta pick the players that the BCCI approves of, you can't be overly harsh or critical in public, and the whole Indian culture means dropping seniors will always be tough. And then you've got an intensive schedule, IPL, broadcasters, and managing a squad of multi-millionaire superstars. It's not like coaching any other team.

Kristen and Wright were both given more leeway and freedom I feel than Fletcher was. From the outset it felt like Fletcher was just appointed to sit their and absorb abuse, and not to really change anything. The BCCI knew the transition from the old gen to the new one would be tough, and while (IMO) it has gone a lot worse than it should have, it was still never going to be pretty. Fletcher's appointed seemed to be based around him just sitting there and letting things run their course, while offering batting advice to the new gen bats and somehow finding a new pool of quicks (which he seems to have don alright with Shami, Yadav, Aaron, Pandey and Pankaj all popping up and Ishant is bowling better).

I guess the expectations for results came up when the new gen was firmly established, but a scoreline of 6-1 over the last 3 tours does not read well for Fletch, even if the performances in NZ and RSA weren't terrible.

It's not bad timing for a new coach at all. MSD can pretty much lead the team on his own in the limited overs formats, and the side is pretty set for the WC. Might as well get a new coach in to oversea the Test team's development now that the new gen is finding it's feet.

 

[cnerd123]

Are there any negative connotations associated with Gora? It basically means white. What's offensive about that? Not trolling, genuinely don't know the context. Only recently found out "****" is pretty offensive too

Edit: It got filtered.
Wow never knew it was that bad.

Gora is censored?

What if I want to talk about horses?

 

[Furball]

Are there any negative connotations associated with Gora? It basically means white. What's offensive about that? Not trolling, genuinely don't know the context. Only recently found out "****" is pretty offensive too

Edit: It got filtered.
Wow never knew it was that bad.

It's a slur.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Gora is censored?

What if I want to talk about horses?

The one that got censored was the abbreviated form of Pakistani.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Laughed when hearing about Kohli spending ages in the nets practicing the sweep under Fletcher's eye.

Fletcher spent about a whole chapter in his autobiography talking about sweeping against spin, and as soon as Kohli gets dismissed by Ali once...