Ever since the Board of Control for Cricket in India has advertised for the post of Indian head coach, there have been widespread speculations over the next appointment. The high-profile post is up for grabs and the ball is now in the court of the board and the technical committee.
Apart from the 57 applicants, there are other names that have been doing the rounds. Although it may be argued that the position of a coach in cricket is not very important, this is not very true in the Indian context. Owing to the mercurial nature of Indian cricket, the position the coach assumes all the more prominence. True the captain is the leader of the pack, the coach is the one who remains in the background and does the brainwork.
Not surprising, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the limited overs skipper stressed on having a coach who can understand the Indian culture that has players from different parts of the country.
Over the years, Indian cricket has had its run in with different personalities as their head coach. Apart from all the successes and failure, there have been many moments which remain etched in the memories of the Indian fans.
#1 Kapil Dev (1999-2000)
So much was expected of the Indian team with Sachin Tendulkar as the skipper and Kapil Dev as the coach. But, things went south for the Indian team, as they lost to Australia 3-0. In Test Matches, India lost its first home Test Series in 13 years.
In ODI's too, India performed badly in away matches and managed just 3 victories in 15 games.
Sachin Tendulkar in his autobiography criticised the ways and means of Kapil Dev as the head coach.
In the chapter titled, Tumultuous Times in his autobiography Sachin wrote that he had high expectations from Kapil.
"During my second stint as captain, we had Kapil Dev as our coach. He is one of the finest cricketers to have played for India and one of the best all-rounders of all time, and I had great expectations of him in Australia. However, his method of involvement and his thought process was limited to leaving the running of the team to the captain, and hence he did not involve himself in strategic discussions that would help us on the field," Sachin wrote.
This statement pretty much sums up the career of Kapil Dev as the Indian coach.
#2 John Wright (2000-2005)
John Wright, the former New Zealand batsman was appointed India coach ahead of the Zimbabwe series in November 2000.
Wright along with Saurav Ganguly transformed the image of Indian cricket from being a home side bully to fierce competitors overseas. He also invested in young blood and brought in the likes of Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag into the team.
The results were immediately evident. The epic series win against Australia set the ball rolling. It was a beginning of the fruitful period for the team.
He along with Ganguly won a Test outside the subcontinent in 15 years when they beat Zimbabwe in 2001. And then came that triumph in the NatWest series in England in 2002.
India then went on to beat England in a Test match in England in 2002 and in Australia in 2003-2004.
The accolades did not end here. India reached the finals of the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa, where they lost to Australia. History was made India defeated Pakistan in 2004 and became the first team in history to do so in Pakistan.
He called it quits during the 2005 return tour of Pakistan. He left behind a glittering coaching career indeed.
#3 Greg Chappell (2005-2007)
Perhaps the most controversial figures to have ever coached the Indian team, Australian Greg Chappell will forever be remembered as the one who will be always remembered for his spat with Sourav Ganguly.
After the heights of the Wright-era, much was expected of the former Australian captain, but almost all his moves backfired, so much so that many former players have dubbed him 'the worst thing to have happened to Indian cricket'.
However, his tenure also had its share of bright spark as it included a record-breaking run of successful run-chases as India won 17 consecutive ODIs while chasing.
The biggest debacle under his tenure was the disastrous 2007 World Cup campaign when India was ousted from the tournament in the first round itself.
For all his expertise, Chappell was never able to adapt himself to the environment and the culture of Indian cricket. He tried too many things but could never win the trust of either the players or the public.
In his autobiography, Sachin Tendulkar wrote: “Most of us felt that Indian cricket was going nowhere under Chappell.”
Certainly, a forgettable tenure!
#4 Gary Kirsten (2007-2011)
After the nightmarish experience against Greg Chappell, India found a gem in South African Gary Kirsten.
His first official assignment was against his home country South Africa. The series ended in a stalemate but a precedent had been set. India did brilliantly in Test matches during his tenure. They beat Australia at home to retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy.
The purple patch continued as India won its first bilateral series win in Sri Lanka. Also, India won the One-Day International and Test series against New Zealand after 40 years. India became the number 1 Test Matches.
However, the biggest and most important moment in his coaching tenure was when India won the World Cup in 2011. The sight of him being lifted by the players all around the Wankhede Surface will always be etched in memories.
No wonder the players and the general public were gutted when Kirsten decided not to renew his contract because of his family obligations after the 2011 World Cup.
MS Dhoni hailed him as the best thing to happen to Indian cricket.
#5 Duncan Fletcher (2011-2015)
After the departure of Gary Kirsten, BCCI appointed Duncan Fletcher as the Indian head coach. Fletcher had come into the Indian fold with great raps after having coached England to the 2005 Ashes glory.
The Zimbabwean assumed charge on April 2011. India at that time was the number 1 Test Team and was touring England. What followed was a disastrous 4-0 whitewash, and the number 1 ranking was surrendered.
There was some respite in the next series as West Indies toured India which the hosts won 2-0. It saw the emergence of R Ashwin as a formidable off-break bowler.
The woes overseas continued as India suffered another humiliating 4-0 whitewash against Australia. After the tour, Indian cricket stalwarts VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid retired.
A visit by New Zealand followed which India won comfortably 2-0. The next generation of batsmen took centre stage as Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara came into their own.
This was followed by a home series against England and after a bright start in Ahmedabad, the hosts went down 2-1 to the visitors on pitches which were tailor made to suit the Indian spinners.
However, the Indian spinner and the Indian team got their acts together and hammered the visiting Australian team 4-0, for the very first time in their history.
And then came the poignant series against the West Indies. This was the farewell series of Sachin Tendulkar. India won the series 2-0 with absolute conviction as Sachin bid the game adieu.
There was some solace overseas as a battling team fought very hard against South Africa as they were finally defeated 1-0 in an evenly matched series.
India once again came close as they toured New Zealand. They almost won the Auckland Test chasing courtesy a Shikhar Dhawan century. Chasing an improbable target of 407, the young Indian team lost by 40 runs. They once again came close to a win, but a herculean 302 by Brendon McCullum thwarted the challenge. The match was drawn and India lost the series 1-0.
On what would be his final tour in charge, India won the match at Lords on a green pitch, but then squandered the lead to go down 3-1 in the 5-match series. The quest for an overseas win stretched to almost 3 years.
All in all, it was a tenure which could have been better had few matches gone India's way. However, he was a widely respected figure around the squad.
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