Boom or bust? Examining the performances of 5 former Indian cricketers who became national coaches

#2 Sandeep Patil (1996)

Sandeep Patil had a brief unsuccessful period as India’s coach

Of all the Indian coaches who managed the Indian team, Sandeep Patil's tenure was arguably the most unsuccessful one. He coached India shortly after the 1996 World Cup but his stint was ended by a disastrous England tour that year.

The 1996 World Cup ended on a bad note for India as the team slipped to 120 for 8 while chasing the Sri Lankan total of 251 in the semi-final after which crowd trouble at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata forced the match referee to award the match to Sri Lanka.

Patil took over after the World Cup but enjoyed moderate success in three ODI tournaments in Singapore, Sharjah and Toronto that year. The England tour was a breaking point however as India lost the Test series 1-0 and the ODI series 2-0. There were widespread rumours of Patil having fallen out with the captain Azharuddin and the rest of the players. He was sacked quickly by the BCCI and replaced by Madan Lal.

Patil went on to have successful coaching careers with Kenya and Oman later. He took Kenya incredibly to the semi-finals of the 2003 World Cup. He was one of the applicants for the position of the India coach recently but he was not called for the interview by the BCCI Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC).