The Challenges For Duncan Fletcher

Welcome To India Duncan Fletcher!

First of all congratulations to Duncan Fletcher on his appointment as Indian Coach…. Now as the dust settles on his appointment and the pros and cons of it. What indeed are the greatest challengers he is going to face?Here is my take on them1.The Pressure of ExpectationWhen Fletcher took over England in 1999 they had just encountered yet another World Cup failure and were a literal laughing stock in Test cricket.So logically anything he achieved was lauded by the cricket authorities and fans.This isn’t the case at India with them having just won the World Cup and widely acknowledged as the number 1 in Tests.So with how hysterical Indian fans are in regards to anything cricket.The pressure will be huge on him to maintain India’s place in the game.And as anyone will attest it’s much easier to build something to get to the top,than it is to maintain them at the top.2.Dealing with the Indian MediaFrom his own perspective if he thought the Fleet Street Press in England were sensationalist and like a blow torch on him.Then wait till he encounters the India Media, which are like bottom feeding gutter rats.Worse for Fletcher is the Media is one of India’s growth areas with it predicted to expand significantly over the next 5 years.So with this provides greater critics for him and more fans being influenced by the critics and their often sensationalist ways.3.Educating the Players About The MediaThis for me is more crucial for Fletcher than his own dealings with the Media.For he’d have no worries about the older members of the Indian Team and how they deflect everything in the Media.From the good,the bad and the ugly.For they have the maturity to take everything with a pinch of salt.Though the fact that India has many elderly statesmen in their Team means that logically they will retire in the near future.So the success of Fletcher will be on how he teaches the youth.The dealing with the Media is crucial in regards to this.For we have seen many times with a star on the rise getting caught up in the Media hype and experience a fall from grace and sadly in some case a slip into obscurity.Rohit Sharma is a classic recent example of this,who had an excellent Odi tour of Australia a few years back and was built up in the Indian Media to be the next great.Only to struggle mightily since through getting caught up in the hypeFor Fletcher to be successful he needs to teach the young players, that he will be so dependant on for success to have the skills to put the Media in it’s proper context4.Putting The World Cup and IPL In Proper ContextThe World Cup win for India was exceptional on so many levels.Though bask in the glory and reminisce happily on the accomplishment,but it needs to be put in context.In the respect that when in sport there is a great glory the players involved have their abilities over exaggerated about because of the joy it brings.Then with this and how hysterical India is about everything cricket it means you get players being talked about in positions their not capable of.Mostly in this regard revolving around Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina and their starring roles in the triumph and now loud calls being made for them to be in the Test TeamFletcher needs to realise players like these are indeed very fine in the shorter forms of the game,but not so in the Test arena.Thus not being fooled to include them on their World Cup deedsThe same applies with the hysteria attached to performances in the Indian Premier League with Paul Valthaty being a case in point.He make a few runs in the slap and giggle that is T20 and automatically the calls are for him to play for India………..!5.The Importance Of the Management Of PlayersThis is very difficult because of the hysterical nature that India has for stars and then the money that the BCCI and regional organisations make from games in their States.So though it would be wise for Fletcher to rest players for the glut of meaningless games that India arrange for profit.How do you think a Mumbai crowd would react if Sachin Tendulkar was left out of an Odi match of no consequence with the bigger picture in mind?Long term though and in particular with the management of bowlers who are so crucial to India’s present and future.Fletcher needs to educate and insist the powers that be of the benefit of resting players.So that they don’t burn out and are key performers for India in the long term.For India can’t keep dealing with losing players due to mismanagement-like Irfan Pathan6.Making The Tough Decisions For India’s BenefitIn his time with England Fletcher made the very unpopular decision at the time to drop Graham Thorpe for Kevin Pietersen.This wasn’t warmly received for Thorpe was a favourite of the English fans.Though it benefited the Team greatlyIn this time in India you have many like Tendulkar,Dravid,Laxman and even Sehwag in the twilight or at the ends of their careers.So he might have to assess the pros and cons of the veterans over the precocious youth.This might lead to very unpopular decisions that are made in regards to one of the icons being told to retire or face the embarrassment of being dropped….For they might be performing now,but with advanced age can come a dramatic drop in form-like the example of Australia’s Ricky PontingSo Fletcher needs to see the signs of a players decay and be proactive in his choices to benefit India in the long run7.The Liaising With The States Over PitchesThis is crucial for India’s ongoing success.For there is a worrying lack of quality bowlers coming through.So this can be directly attributed to being associated with Pitches in India.Which for the most part are favouring batsmen in a distinct manner.Fletcher needs to change this by liaising and communicating with the curators of the pitches for the Teams in the Ranji Cup.This after finding consensus with the Captains and Coaches of the respective Teams about the benefit of preparing more bowling friendly pitch.This not only benefits India as a whole through fast bowlers being given more encouragement in their infancy,but also for batsmen who won’t be made into flat track bullies.8.The Development of Strength In Fast Bowling For IndiaThe Pitches as touched on in the level below International cricket is crucial for bowler development.Though then so is talent identification and honing the existing talents.This has two aspects:A),Fletcher must assemble a support castHeaded by the bowling Coach that can not only identify talent,but then also develop them.He must make a decision on the current bowling Coach Eric Simmons and whether he can take the Team forward in it’s most crucial need.If indeed he see’s Simmons as inadequate he needs to find a replacement with a good choice being an ex mate of Fletcher’s in Troy Cooley.Then in support of the bowling Coach there should be three full time scouts to watch and identify bowling talent for the future in the Ranji Cup.Then the bowlers who are identified need to be managed properly.In regards to not being subjected to too much cricket in their infancy that leads to injury and burn out.They should have skills honed in the centres of excellence for bowlers and on subsequent A Tours.B),The dealing with the existing talents is a must….At sometime in their careers all of Sreesanth,Munaf Patel,R.P.Singh,Irfan Pathan and Ishant Sharma have been fine International performers.So Fletcher along with his bowling Coaches need to assess these players and their future roles for India.If indeed he cites them as the future he needs identify their current flaws and then to manage them so as to get the best performance from them9,Don’t Forget the Need for Spinners-Duncan!Traditionally spin is India’s heartland and greatest strength.Though of late this has dropped off with few quality spinners coming through due to various reasons.Mostly being the current generation follows their heroes and who have been all of India’s heroes in the previous generation?-batsmenSo at present India has a few spinners on the rise like Pragyan Ohja,Amit Mishra,Aushik Srinivas and Vikas Mishra.All very talented prospects and indeed traditional spinners in the sense they use flight and guile,rather than the modern day trend of fast flat darts because of in out fields by defence minded Captains.This is crucial for India’s future that the young spinners are not only taught about the way to bowl in a traditional sense.For India is screaming out for an attack minded wicket taking spinner.But also that Captain around India are taught about the need to support the spinners in terms of fields.This is very hard because of with the onset of T20/Odi and with it more and more spinners are being used in a defensive manner-like in the shorter forms of the game.I would hire Anil Kumble to be spin Coach and then a few support cast to develop the spinners.Maybe someone like Venkapathy Raju be good in this role10,The Dealing with M.S.Dhoni

Throughout the process in finding the Indian Coach one of the first questions posed is their ability to work with the current Indian Captain M.S.Dhoni.Which gives the impression that Dhoni is indeed bigger than the Indian Team…..

In truth the legend of Dhoni has reached God like proportions since the World Cup win and indeed in the shorter forms of the game he’s a very decent Captain and player.Though in Tests he is average to say the very least and as seen in South Africa in a series that was there for India to win.His incompetence cost them this opportunity……..His main failing is his defensive mindset in regards to fields and tactics.So this is fine in the shorter forms of the game,but in Tests you need to be more proactive.Fletcher needs to impress this on him and work with him and ideally mould him into a more refined Captain in Test cricket.Or if he can’t do this he might have to make an extremely difficult decision and even tougher to make it a reality with all the Corporate investment in Dhoni and his popularity and replace him as Test Captain