Fletcher’s time up, says former Indian opener
New Delhi: Reacting to Team India’s recent dismal performances, former skipper Sunil Gavaskar on Monday called for a change in guard and promoted Rahul Dravid as the best man to coach the national side.
Terming current national coach Duncan Fletcher as an England and Wales Cricket Board ‘reject’, Gavaskar criticised the Zimbabwean for his approach.
“I think the first name that comes to my mind is Rahul Dravid because he is enormously respected. He has been one of India’s most successful skippers – he does not get much credit for that because his was a shorter reign,” the little master was quoted as saying by a new channel when asked on who would be an ideal replacement for Fletcher.
“A younger person is needed because a younger person will have the intensity and will want to prove that he has the coaching credentials. Duncan Fletcher was a reject and the England and Wales Cricket Board had dispensed with his services and yet we took him on the recommendation of Gary Kirsten. We tried him for a year, year and a half, two years and nothing worked. Now is the time for us to take a hard call,” he added.
Kirsten was Team India’s coach from 2008 to 2011 and helped India attain the No 1 Test ranking and win the 2011 World Cup.
Interestingly, Fletcher’s name was recommended to the BCCI by Kirsten himself. It may have been a move that undid all his previous hard work.
Gavaskar also said it does not matter whether the coach of the Indian team is a foreigner or someone from the country itself as long as he can be an asset for the youngsters in the side.
“For me it does not matter whether it is an Indian or an overseas player. I am saying just bring a younger man, slightly younger man. You don’t want somebody who has been with the Indian team for 3-4 years,” he said. (UNI)
