Top 5 coaches who turned their team's fortunes around

Trevor Bayliss (L) changed England's fortunes in the 2015 Ashes after they suffered a humiliation Down UnderThe role of a coach in any sport is undeniably crucial and this holds true for cricket as well. Although it is the captain who hogs the limelight when a team succeeds, the job which is carried out behind the scenes by the coach is of equal significance.The world of cricket has seen several fine coaches over the years who have been an integral part of highly successful ventures for different teams. But among these, there have been some gentlemen who have been able to bring about drastic changes in fortune for the teams they have coached. Lets take a look at the top 5 coaches who make the cut in this regard.

#1 Dav Whatmore

Dav Whatmore had the ability to get the best out of his players

When talking about great coaches, Dav Whatmore is one of the first names that comes to mind. Having the ability to turn around the fortunes of teams has been his core strength around which he has built a successful coaching career.

Whatmore is a man who has done it at least twice for two current Test playing nations; Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Before the start of the 1996 World Cup, possibly no one had given Sri Lanka even an outside chance despite their heartening performance in the World Series that had taken place in Australia a few months prior.

Whatmore, along with then Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga, came up with the perfect plan which the team executed even more perfectly and brought the holy grail of world cricket to the Emerald Isle.

On their road to victory, the Sri Lankans managed to overpower tournament favourites India twice and thrashed a strong Australian side in the final. Come the 2007 World Cup, the burly Aussies were at it again; only this time it was a team which was counted among the minnows of cricket, Bangladesh.

They toppled over neighbours India in the first round, a loss which sent the 2003 runners up crashing out of the tournament, and at the same time managed to progress further to the Super 8 stage. When it comes to bringing about a reversal of fortunes, no one may be able to do it better than this man.

#2 Gary Kirsten

Gary Kirsten inspired India to the 2011 World Cup

Gary Kirsten is widely regarded as one of the best cricket coaches in the world at present and he has more than enough evidence to support this. His exploits with Team India between the years 2008 to 2011 not only managed to flip the team’s fortunes but also made him the most sought-after coach in the cricketing fraternity.

Fresh from the Greg Chappell saga that took Indian cricket by storm from 2005 to 2007, the team had just started to find its footing under a new leader in young MS Dhoni with an unexpected victory in the inaugural T20 World Cup. But they were still looking for a man who could do that much-needed repair job at the back end of things and get the team up and running in full motion again.

Just at the right time, the board managed to identify that man in Gary Kirsten and Team India would never be the same again. After beating both New Zealand and Sri Lanka at their respective homes, India rose to the pinnacle of Test cricket for the first time since the ratings system began.

The prestigious ICC World Cup Trophy also came home after 28 long years on an eventful night at the Wankhede Stadium on 2 April 2011. Having made such a huge impact for the Indian cricket team in a matter of 4 years, Kirsten became a prime contender for the coaching job for his home team, South Africa; an offer he chose to accept.

#3 Andy Flower

Andy Flower guided England to a hat-trick of Ashes victories

Apart from being the greatest batsman Zimbabwe has ever produced, Andy Flower has done no harm to his reputation as a coach as well. The England Cricket team hadn’t really done much of note apart from clinching the 2005 Ashes series at the time when Andy Flower was handed the reins as a full time coach following Peter Moores’ exit in 2009.

There is no greater feat for teams from England or Australia than winning the Ashes and Flower ensured that happened in the same year in which he took over. In the following year, not only did England retain the Ashes but they also brought home the ICC World T20 trophy after winning the tournament played in the West Indies.

Things only got better for Flower and England as the latter went on to become the No. 1 ranked Test team in the world. Victory in the 2013 Ashes meant that it was the first time since the period between 1977 and 1981 that an English side had completed a hat-trick of Ashes victories. Such a turnaround by a team which hardly won anything anywhere really speaks volumes of Andy Flower’s calibre as a coach.

#4 Sandeep Patil

Sandeep Patil helped minnows Kenya to reach the World Cup semi-finals

Talking about changing fortunes, cricket may never really have a better story to tell than Kenya’s journey to the 2003 World Cup semi-finals. And the man who led them there was none other than BCCI’s chairman of selectors, Sandeep Patil.

Almost everyone had thought that Kenya would only be pushovers in their group which featured big teams like South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and West Indies. But Patil’s team forced them to stand up and take notice when they beat eventual group toppers Sri Lanka by 53 runs.

Surely they were helped as they won by a walkover against New Zealand, but they put up a good enough showing to progress to the Super 6 stage where they beat Zimbabwe to ensure they make it to the semi-finals where they finally lost to India. Sandeep Patil won accolades from all corners for bringing about such a great turnaround for a team falling under the minnow category in world cricket.

#5 Chandika Haturusingha

Bangladesh's recent resurgence has to be credited to their inspirational coach

Among the current crop of international coaches is a miracle worker named Chandika Haturusingha, coach of the Bangladesh cricket team. The progress of the Bangladeshi tigers under the wily Sri Lankan has been there for everyone to see.

After all, when had one ever heard of them winning three back-to-back ODI series, that too against the best of teams like Pakistan, India and South Africa. Prior to such unprecedented success, Bangladesh also enjoyed a great World Cup where they pushed England out of the tournament and qualified for the quarter-finals where they eventually lost to India.

What’s more, Haturusingha looks like a man possessed with taking them to even greater heights and if he succeeds in his quest, he may well become one of the best coaches the game has ever seen.