Legendary Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble was recently appointed as Team India’s new head coach. As has been the case with other coaches that India have hired in the past, there are a large number of expectations that Kumble will need to meet as he takes up one of the most stressful yet rewarding jobs in cricket.
Since the turn of the millennium, the Indian team has had as many as 5 different coaches who have had contrasting fortunes during their respective tenures. Even the beginnings varied for each of them as some had a baptism by fire whereas others got time to warm up to the task.
Here we take a look at 5 previous Indian coaches and how they performed in their first assignment:
1. John Wright (2000-2005) – Zimbabwe tour of India, 2000/01
Former New Zealand cricketer John Wright is primarily known in Indian cricketing circles as one of the best coaches the team has ever had. He and then skipper Sourav Ganguly are seen as the driving forces behind the complete transformation in the way the team played its cricket.
Wright was a little fortunate, though, in terms of getting an easier way to begin his journey as Team India’s coach. Although Zimbabwe used to be a pretty strong team back then, playing against them in home conditions was never really going to be a big problem for the Indians.
First came a 2-match Test series in which India won the first Test quite comprehensively by 7 wickets while the visitors fought hard to clinch a draw in the second one. In the 5-ODI series that followed, the Indian team thrashed the Zimbabweans by a 4-1 margin.
2. Greg Chappell (2005-2007) – Indian Oil Cup Tri-series (India, Sri Lanka, West Indies)
Greg Chappell is one of the most infamous figures to be associated with Indian cricket over the past couple of decades. His fall-out with former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly during his tenure as coach is among the darkest chapters in the country’s cricket and culminated in the latter’s exit from the team.
Chappell’s two-year association with Team India began in May 2005 and his first assignment was the Indian Oil Cup tri-series in Sri Lanka, which also featured the home side and West Indies. Despite losing their matches to the Sri Lankans, India made it to the final after beating West Indies in both their matches.
In the final, the Indians fell prey to the home side once again and lost the match by a margin of 18 runs.
3. Gary Kirsten (2007-2011) – South Africa in India, 3-Test series
Arguably the finest coach the Indian team has ever had, Gary Kirsten, had a glittering tenure with the MS Dhoni-led side. Apart from a World Cup triumph after 28 years of wait, India also reached the pinnacle of success in Test cricket by becoming the No. 1 side in the format with the South African as coach.
Although Kirsten had been signed up in December 2007, his first series as Indian coach came about in March 2008 when his home team, South Africa, toured India for a 3-Test series. The first Test, which saw Virender Sehwag score his 2nd triple century, ended in a draw while the Proteas inflicted and innings defeat over the hosts in the next one.
Team India fought back brilliantly in the 3rd and final Test to win by 8 wickets and level the series 1-1.
4. Duncan Fletcher (2011-2015) – India tour to West Indies, 2011
Following the end of Gary Kirsten’s highly successful stint, former Zimbabwean cricketer Duncan Fletcher was appointed as the head coach of Team India in April 2011. With a long history of coaching success behind him, Fletcher was expected to take Indian cricket to greater heights but things didn’t quite go as planned.
India’s tour to the West Indies in 2011 was his first assignment as the team's coach and included a T20I, 5 ODIs and 3 Tests against the home side. The Indians won the T20I and also sealed the ODI series 3-2. They also managed to clinch the Test series by winning the 1st Test while the other two matches ended in a draw.
While Duncan Fletcher enjoyed overseas success early on, things only got worse for him in the years that followed.
5. Ravi Shastri (2015-2016) – India tour to Bangladesh, 2015
Although Ravi Shastri had already taken over as the director of the Indian team during Duncan Fletcher’s coaching stint, he took complete control only after the latter’s tenure ended. While his job early on was to oversee the team affairs, Shastri’s role ventured into the coaching territory since Fletcher left.
His first series as the independent team director was when India toured Bangladesh for a one-off Test and a 3-match ODI series. Weather played spoilsport during the Test after the Indians were in a dominant position and it ended up being a draw.
However, the ODI series proved to be quite a shameful outing for Team India as they lost the series 1-2 against a fired-up Bangladeshi team.
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