Same old , some new

All the festivities and celebrations surrounding India's victory in the T20 world cup came crashing down. In a matter of 1 week since the Aussies started their 7 match series here, its been the same old comments on how the Indian team should improve their bowling and fielding. And the same sunken feeling in my stomach when the Aussies start assaulting the bowlers and demolishing the much-hyped Indian batting line-up.

The most note-worthy thing about this series has been the attitude of the players in the two teams. On earlier tours the Aussies would come-bully-win and go. On this tour, the Indians are giving it back to the Aussies in terms of bullying.

Now, I agree that it has gone over the top some times and the incident where Sreesanth tried to run Symonds out was plain stupid, but the fact remains that the Indians are not backing down to the Aussies. Only if they could perform well and win matches !!

My thoughts on the first couple of matches:

1. The Aussies seem to have planned to bat first and put up huge totals. Indians are perennial chokers when it comes to chasing and the Aussies seem to want to exploit this to the fullest.
2. The 2 captains (Mahi and Gili) are very likable, though Ponting came back for the 3rd ODI. (I'm not a huge fan of Ponting)
3. We saw sari-clad women distributing drinks during the ODI in Hyderabad !! What will they think of next ??
4. The grounds staff also performed a puja of the pitch !! Pity, it didn't help wake the Indian cricketing gods.
5. Mahi seems to play a fair game and I am impressed by his no-nonsense presence on the field.
6. Dravid seems to be lost on the ground. We hardly get to see him on the field. He does not even venture out to give any sort of advise to Mahi (which Sachin regularly seems to do). I don't know if something is amiss between Rahul and Mahi or if Rahul just wants to give Mahi his space. In any case, a few words here and there will definately help.
7. The team mgmt sat out Ganguly even when he was fit ?? I wonder why?? What was the sense of playing Rohit Sharma when Ganguly was available??
8. The behavior on the field improved considerably from the second to the third ODI. Maybe someone knocked some sense into Bhajji and Sreesanth.

India now needs to win all the remaining 4 ODIs to clinch the series. Though I don't see them doing that, I think they should use this series to identify players and get some match practice for the Pakistan series.

AND GET A COACH !!!

Wanted - A coach for the Indian Cricket Team

A lot of people have come out in support of the current arrangement of the Indian cricket team. They are out on tour with no coach. Agreed, they have a bowling coach in Prasad and a fielding coach in Robin Singh, but they don't have a "head coach". It would seem that the senior players in the side have gotten together and formed a think-tank of sorts and they take decisions collectively.
However, my opinion is this kind of arrangement reduces the authority of the captain. If the captain needs to bounce off his ideas on other players in the team, he may be perceived to be indecisive and incapable of taking a decision on his own. The coach is the ideal person to complement the captain in this capacity. Also, you usually need an eye/brain that is not in the game to notice things that people in the thick of things may overlook. Almost all the coaches these days sit in the dressing rooms with laptops open, taking notes. Agreed, that you can have a statistician do the same, but a coach will analyze this data and then provide a synopsis to the captain. In the current scenario, Dravid needs to go through heaps and heaps of data to find out what will be beneficial to him.
Bottom line is a coach is required to help the captain. Ganguly and Sharad Pawar gave statements saying -

We are in no hurry to hire a coach. Besides, what will a coach teach players like Sachin, Rahul, Kumble etc.

That in my opinion is the worst attitude to have. If you think these players know everything, why do they not score a century or take 5 wickets everytime they bat or bowl? A senior cricketer can always add value to any player by virtue of their experience. And please don't tell me that these guys think they are so good that they don't need anyone's help.

The BCCI recently posted their requirements of the person who can apply to be a coach, and its about time too . They are :

The candidate must have played at least first class cricket and must possess experience of coaching an international or national team or should have been a coach at an elite coaching centre of international repute.

The aspirant should be a qualified coach with minimum Level III coaching credentials obtained from Cricket Australia, England or India and should also be able to build positive relations with the public and the media.

The coach's key responsibilities also include working closely with the selection committee and inter-acting periodically with the Review Committee to be set up by the board, it said.

He should have the ability to plan and manage programmes for the elite cricketers, should have basic Information Technology skills and be familiar with the use of performance analysis software packages.

The aspirant must also possess excellent communication skills to deal with different sections of people like players, team management, selectors and the BCCI, the release added.

The aspirant for the coach's position should be available to conduct clinics and workshops for the local coaches and provide the team with tactical expertise, according to the conditions laid down by the BCCI.

Another requirement stated by the board is that he should have basic knowledge of Indian cricket, player pathway, culture and ethos, should be capable of handling the team under high pressure situations and have outstanding organisational skills.

The candidate should have extensive coaching experience and expertise in working with elite cricketers.

The candidate should also have knowledge of international coaching trends and possess ability to use video technology, the release further said.

The term of the new coach will start on October 1 and involves extensive time away from home while travelling with the Indian team both within India and abroad, the BCCI has said.

My candidate -