Joe Dawes leaves India's bowling coach role, says separation with BCCI 'mutual'

Not ‘sacked’: Joe Dawes says that his separation with the BCCI was ‘mutual’

Contrary to some media reports, which have indicated that India’s bowling coach Joe Dawes was ‘sacked’ by the BCCI, the Australian has confirmed in a chat with ESPNcricinfo that his departure was totally ‘amicable’.

Dawes and fielding coach Trevor Penny were sent on a ‘break’ by the Indian cricket board after India’s 1-3 thrashing in the England Tests. Ravi Shastri was appointed the team director, while Sanjay Bangar and Bharat Arun were brought in as deputies to head coach Duncan Fletcher, and R Sridhar was appointed the fielding coach.

“It was absolutely amicable. We were involved in a process over the past two months that we had been working through,” Joe Dawes told ESPNcricinfo, and stressed that he didn’t want to talk about the details of his separation from the Indian cricket team.

“The actual process and what went on, I don't really want to talk about it. It is just not worth talking about it. We parted ways really amicably and I don't want to risk in any shape or form,” he added.

Dawes’s contract ran till the end of World Cup next year, and he was offered a role at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore, but the Australian declined.

“That was one of the options at one stage we thought about. But I decided to move on,” he said.

Language barrier?

“I have a very simple grasp of Hindi but cricket is also a universal language”

The biggest roadblock according to many reports, was the language barrier between players and Dawes which led to his ‘mutual’ separation. Talking to Courier Mail, Dawes explained how he interacted with the players.

“They thought there was a language barrier issue. But I had things in place to assist me with that. I have a very simple grasp of Hindi but cricket is also a universal language. I would use either the manager or one of the bowlers who spoke English to communicate. I would use Ishant Sharma all the time because he spoke good English. I would always make sure he was around to give me a hand,” Dawes said.

Even if there was a language barrier, Dawes maintains that he wasn’t told directly about it.

“The only time I heard was about a supposed leaked BCCI report that Ravi Shastri wrote (about language barrier being a reason). But I have not seen that or been told that directly by anyone.”

Disappointed for missing Australia tour

Dawes was appointed the bowling coach after India’s 4-0 whitewash in Australia in 2011/12, and maintains that since the 2012 England tour of India, the group’s focus had been the overseas tours to South Africa, England and Australia.

“I was looking forward to the tour of Australia. No doubt. But things happen in life for a reason. They wanted to get some Indian coaches involved. It is a tough one,” he said.

Dawes was a Queensland fast bowler and could have been of help to the youngsters touring Australia later this year.

“We had been working towards this tour from the England Test series in India two years ago. We had already started planning from then since we knew we had a good 18 months with tours in South Africa, England and Australia. What we were trying to create was a unit to work together, a unit that would know each other personally, was going to go out and bowl their hearts out not just for India but also for each other.”

“I leave with no regrets”

Ishant, the ‘proudest’ achievement

In his association with the Indian cricket team for over two years, Dawes considered Ishant Sharma taking up the role of India’s leader of the bowling attack as his proudest achievement.

“We made some really good progress as a group. The proudest (achievement) was Ishant,” he said.

“All the credit goes to Ishant, but the turnaround Ishant has had over the last 12-18 months has been exceptional. He has gone from someone who was in a little bit of wilderness coming back from injury. More importantly from my point of view he is turning into the leader of that bowling group which someone of his experience should be doing and he is doing really well looking after that young group.”

When he was sent on a ‘break’ by the BCCI, Dawes says the Indian players walked into his room to give their messages, which he felt was “heartening” and an indicator of the good relationship he had with the Indian cricketers.

“I leave with no regrets and am looking forward to the future.”

‘Sridhar and Bangar are good blokes’

Though no longer a part of the Indian set up, the 44-year-old will continue to coach in T20s in India and Australia. He’s the bowling coach with Kings XI Punjab and assistant coach of Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League.

Bangar and Sridhar, the two ‘replacements’ of Dawes in the Indian cricket team, are ranked quite high in Dawes’s book, and he maintains a good relationship with the duo.

“I know all three guys who have come in. They are all unbelievable operators. The two that I have worked with in particular (at Kings XI), Sridhar and Sanjay Bangar, are really good blokes as well. I have good relationships with them and look forward to catching up with them when they are in Brisbane for the Test.”

As for what the future holds, Dawes says that he hasn’t given up on coaching yet, and will look for newer pastures after a break at home.

“At the moment I am just catching my breath and I am really enjoying being at home. But there are two jobs I am really passionate about doing if and when they become available,” Dawes told Courier Mail.

“One is the Queensland Bulls job, where Stuart Law is doing an awesome job at the moment. If he decides to move on down the track, I would love to have a crack at that. And of course I would love to be involved in the Australian team in a coaching position one day.”