DUNCAN Fletcher’s appointment as India coach has not gone down well with two of the country’s cricketing legends.
The 62-year-old former England coach was given a two-year contract by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday, but former India captain Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar have questioned the decision to snub home-grown candidates. Asked by the Hindustan Times for his opinion on Fletcher, Dev replied: “Who is Duncan Fletcher? I would like to see Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh as coaches of the Indian team. Not because they are Indians but because they did a great job (as bowling and fielding coaches respectively) at the T20 World Cup (in 2007).”
Fletcher will be the fourth foreigner to take charge of the Indian team’s fortunes after John Wright, Greg Chappell and World Cup winner Gary Kirsten.
These coaches helped India achieve their best World Cup results since 1983, with Wright’s side finishing runners-up in 2003 and Kirsten leading the team to victory early this month.
However, Gavaskar joined Dev in calling for an Indian to be given the reins, opting for fellow World Cup-winning batsman Mohinder Amarnath, who was a candidate for the job when Chappell and Kirsten applied respectively.
“Someone like Amarnath would have been a better choice for the simple reason that the core of the Indian team today is from the Hindi-speaking belt,” he told the NDTV news channel.
“He would have got on brilliantly with this group as well as the seniors. It would have been a lot easier for Amarnath to understand and interact with the players.”
Fletcher is expected to formally take charge in the build-up to India’s tour of England later this year, with prior commitments preventing him from accompanying the tour of West Indies next month. (PA Sport)