Coach shoach

Hmmm ... Chappell, Moody, Amarnath and Patil. Hmmmm.

Dean Jones was ignored as predicted by the TelegraphIndia.com site ... damn, they do have good sources. I was a bit sad coz I feel that he should have been interviewed. Whether selected or not depends on what kind of vision he outlines for the Indian team in the interview but shunting him at the shortlisting stage itself is a bit sad. It's not coz he is a foreigner (it's no secret that the Chuckster wants a foreigner for the coach's job) but coz he is level 4 certified by the Australian coaching institute or whatever it is called. From what I know, the standards r pretty good out there and if this guy is a Level 4 certified guy then he can at least be listened to. But the BCCI always was gonna play safe with the match-fixing mud stuck to Jones and hence he missed out.

Last time around, Chappell was said to have missed out coz he was more interested in what he would be paid than in what he could do for the team. Hopefully, this time around he would have learnt his lesson. See, one thing is simple ... the BCCI has a lot of money and it can pay a lot ... so if he does manage to impress the panel that he has a great vision for the team and explain how he plans to implement it ... once he makes them believe that he is the best man for the job ... he can always demand a lot of money.

Personally, I see no reason why he should not be paid a lot of money. I paid a lot of money for the 29 inch flat screen television I bought just before India went to Australia in 2003-04. I am sure plenty of people paid a lot of money for the fridges / air-conditioners / soft drinks they bought coz their favorite cricket stars endorse the products ... I am sure the players get paid a lot of money for playing ... no one grudges Tendulkar and Ganguly their pound of flesh ... why should the coach be any different? If players were not paid a lot of money, one could talk about the coach also being treated on equal terms ... but if the players earn so much, why not the coach ... the man who drives the team through all strategies? The BCCI makes tons and tons of money ... they spend a lot on meetings / elections / freebies ... no reason why they should not spend on a coach who can really make this team a world beater.

See, if u find a coach who can do it for less ... great. There is no law that says u have to pick the one who demands the most ... but there should be a law that says pick the best candidate irrespective of what he charges ... coz we, the people, deserve it ... and if they pay Chappell 4 times what they paid Wright, they still will have enough money to hire two more Chappells. With so much of money to play around with, Kanjoosi should not be the factor.

The two Indians in the list seem to be mere eye-candy. I cannot seriously see the panel selecting Patil or Amarnath whatever their credentials might be ... sure Kenya reached the semi finals of the world cup but by that score, we might as well pick the guy who coached Kapil's devils when we won the world cup in 1983 (btw, was there a position called "coach" at that time? "Manager" was present but "coach"?). Patil might be good or Patil might not be good but an Indian coach for this set of prima donnas will not work ... I am a great admirer of Indians in many sphere of life but when it comes to Sports and management (which is what a coach's role is supposed to be), I do not have any faith in an Indian being at the helm. Sooner or later, Patil's son or nephew would be vying for a place in the Mumbai cricket team or his brother would be contesting elections for the Karnataka state board secretary's position ... and there would end soundness in judgement.

Bring forth a guy who has no strings attached in the country's domestic circuits ... whether playing or administering ... and u can hope for professionalism ... bring forth any Indian of whatever repute, sooner or later he will have his own agendas interfering with work. No offence to Indians (I am one myself, u know) ... but I don't have faith.

Amarnath won't stick simply coz the board won't pick a troublemaker ... and the Amarnaths have traditionally been known as trouble-makers. Whether it be Jimmy or Lala, they have believed in calling a spade a spade and the BCCI won't forget the "bunch of jokers" comment in a hurry. By that score, though Chappell is also known to be very forthwright and no-nonsense, I think the BCCI might take shit from a foreigner ... but it won't take it from an Indian.

The choice really is between Moody and Chappell ... and I for one would like to take the plunge with Chappell ... he is supposed to be a master-thinker of the game ... he is supposed to be one of the greatest minds in terms of cricket thinking / strategizing and while Moody may be good / bad / ugly, I want to have a sample of what might be "the" greatest ... in Chappell. I read once in some article where Chappell advocated the use of Tendulkar as opener in tests ... and believe me, it gave me goose bumps ... coz we talk about these things but we also know they could never happen. When the push comes to shove, we always play safe ... imagine Tendulkar opening and getting a series of single digit scores ... no coach would want to take a chance with his career by doing that ... but from what I hear of Chappell, he might just have the balls to try it. That is what I want to see ... someone who tries things that give dramatic results ... not go by the standard rules that say ... India Test Team - Sehwag, XYZ, Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman .... why do u need a phucking coach to do that? I mean as Plan A, its ok but not day in day out with the team giving the same miserable performances. I don't think this team has ever flirted with greatness ... they have at times played very good cricket (as in Australia the last time we went there) but they have never tried to be the best, except while talking. A Greg Chappell might be very expensive ... but even if the strategy fails, if he experiments with a Tendulkar opening in tests and a Ganguly opening again in ODIs with Sehwag smashing them apart in the slog overs, I would call the investment worthwhile. Sometimes we need to examine the borders of what is possible ... what use having greats in the team when u never try for greatness?

Sorry, friend Moody ... in this post, u r being ignored royally but basically the thought of u being coach makes me feel good ... the thought of Chappell being coach excites me a lot. I like to get excited when it comes to cricket ... nothing personal.

On the panel formed for selecting the coach, the thought of Gavaskar and Shastri together doesn't give me a very good feeling ... frankly, in my mind I can imagine the question "And how do u plan to use Tendulkar ... what kind of strategy do u have for him" being of tremendous importance when the interview panel is listening to any coach prospect's vision for the team. If Greg Chappel does open his mouth and say "I think he would make a tremendous opener for India in tests" I can see Gavaskar pressing the panic button. But again, I am glad to see Gavaskar be actively involved in something related to Indian cricket ... usually he is a guy who talks a lot but never actually gets involved in anything. He is easily one of the smartest ex-cricketers we have, even if a bit too defensive for the Chuckster's liking ... but the Chuckster likes smart people ... and I hope this is the beginning of Gavaskar's involvement in Indian cricket affairs. I also guess that there would always be a lot of politics / favoritism where Gavaskar is concerned ... but as long as he does some good to Indian cricket, hey ... even without him, there is a lot of favoritism / politics.

I have to run - To be continued.

The Chuckster