Can Gary Kirsten do what Greg Chappell couldn't?

By all accounts, Gary Kirsten is set to be India's next coach. Once the fine print is sorted out, the appointment should be announced, though it remains to be seen whether he'll be on board for the tour of Australia. If he can sort out personal commitments in time to make the trip in mid-December, it'll be the sort of baptism by towering inferno that neither John Wright nor Chappell had to face.

Terry Oliver, the Queensland coach, and Tim Boon, the Leicestershire coach who helped RP Singh this summer, were others in the fray, along with Chandrakant Pandit, the former Indian wicketkeeper who has enjoyed much coaching success over the past decade. Kepler Wessels, formerly at Northamptonshire, Dave Nosworthy of Canterbury and Richard Done, the former chief of Queensland's Academy of Excellence, had also applied, along with the big-name outsider, Martin Crowe.

There's no standout name there, but Oliver at least had experience of coaching a domestic side that would thrash half the world's Test-playing nations even on a bad day. Kirsten, by contrast, has no coaching pedigree to speak of. He reckons it isn't a factor. "I don't think it's an issue in that I'm certainly not going to come over and teach big players how to play cricket," he says, but you've got to ask whether the experience of being a batting consultant to the Fidentia Warriors [formerly Eastern Province] is any sort of preparation for the toughest coaching assignment in the world.

Chappell's lack of success at South Australia was glossed over when he was appointed, and his experiences beg the question: is another big name [albeit not as big as Chappell] the way to go? The team has won key Test matches in recent times against England and Pakistan with the aid of a fielding coach, a bowling one and an overall manager, Lalchand Rajput.

Are those results an aberration that will be shown up by Australia? How much of a price will India pay for not grooming a young Indian coach during the Wright and Chappell eras? Or has it been taken for granted that an Indian coach means pandering to regional lobbies and biases? We'll know the answers soon enough, but you can't help but think that Indian cricket may have got it badly wrong again.

Kirsten, a far less talented shotmaker than half-brother Peter, became one of the great players of his era by maximising his strengths and camouflaging weaknesses. He'll need to do something similar to have the effect that Wright had on the Indian side. At least he'll start with a clean slate.

Comments

[Tan Pawar]

I hope Kirsten turns out to be successful. But what is wrong with the current coaches? Without a head coach India won a test series in England and made a good scrap of the ODIs, won the twenty20, gave Australia some competition in the ODI series, comfortably beat Pak too in the ODIs and should win this test series against Pak. I think Robin Singh, Prasad and Rajput have done well and I don't see the need to change that. We don't need a batting coach, we have the finest batsmen in the wrold who have succeeded in every part of th world and they are experienced enough to help the younger crop to come through. Kirsten's appointment is needed at this time

[Dileep]

Am sure India's bowlers would do well there, unless they got carried away with the pace and bounce, but Australia's batting is significantly classier than SA's. There's no comparison really. Hayden, Gilchrist and Ponting are all-time greats, and Hussey and Clarke should join them. Add in Jaques and Symonds and it's frightening. Sreesanth's absence, if he does miss the tour, could be crucial.

[Tarun Y]

Hi Dileep,

If we went into the third test at the WACA with all of our fit paceman (and in form),do you think Australia may stumble in their over-confidence in fast-bowling and green-tops the way the South Africans did in Jo'burg 2006?

[Dileep]

Well, even the best Indian batsmen struggled to pick Hogg's wrong 'un in the ODIs. The less experienced players had no clue. We'll see how he goes. Won't be any worse than MacGill who the Indians always spanked around the park. Australia have experimented with drop-in pitches for a while now. And don't be surprised to see the WACA restored to its greased lightning fastest either. After the last tour, Australia will make sure that India get no slow surfaces to play on. Sydney and Adelaide should still suit the Indians though.

[v]

I am not sure hogg will trouble the indians like he did in the ODIs', where there was an added pressure of scoring more than run-a-ball every time Indians came out to bat. Lee is very unpredictable and he gives away too many four balls, even in the SL series except for the first innings in the first test, he bowled too many bad balls. Also any idea why they are going for drop-in pitch for the first test? Has it happened before?

[Dileep]

Like Avinash says, I think Kirsten will stay behind the scenes. Even as a player, he was never one for the limelight. The guy deserves a chance before anyone judges him. Perhaps what Indian cricket needs is a facilitator with a tremendous work ethic more than a great coach who tries to overhaul existing structures too quickly.

[avinash subramaniam]

i wonder what guru gary is going to do? :-)

[Dsingh]

I am shocked and disappointed, to say the least, at the India coach selection. I do not understand this muddle-head thinking. Why on earth would you chase down someone who has not even bothered to offer himself as a coach. Is it the next big thing after palm reading how to predict a successful coach? John wright had at least coached a decent county side. Gary Kirsten, just 3 years senior to Anil, has hardly done enough to merit the selection. While Chappell's resume was awesome, we all know what a disaster he was (though some may disagree with me, even though I debate all through the night). I thought Rajput was doing a decent job, having given this same old-decaying-senior infested-mafia team something to cherish. The good part is that, much like Wright, he worked with what he had in his hand. Unlike chappell, he has not been a bad workman complaining about either the tool or the resources.
On another note, I think we need to look beyond Gavaskar for guidance on all important things in Indian cricket. His offering of John Emburey was unbelievably bad recommendation. His role as a consultant to the India team when Australia were down here was equally troublesome. For gods sake, if you need an advice on selecting coaches why not include successful coaches like Wadekar or lesser known but equally successful mortals (but please not a Bedi and a Asok Malhotra and the chandigarh gang)
Gavaskar for all his greatness would never have made the cut as a great coach. Now to boot it all, he and his friends have gone and picked another shocker. Tch Tch!!

[avinash subramaniam]

but, at the risk of repeating myself, greg chappell, mbe, failed because he didn't have the right personality for the job. on that front, and others too, kirsten does seem a bit righter. and a lot like john wright - a doughty, dogged, left-handed, opener who maximized his strengths and, quite willingly, stayed out of the limelight. i think, he may not be such a bad idea. as always, we'll have to wait and see.

[Dileep]

It's an equally formidable Aussie batting line-up and a much stronger bowling attack. Hogg will certainly trouble India more than MacGill did, and with the exception of Gillespie, this crop of quicks is way better than Brad Williams and co.

[v]

It's more or less the same team that toured Australia in 2003-04, with a stronger bowling attack provided Sreesanth & RP are fit, combine that with the bloodymindedness that seems to have rubbed of on SRT & SCG, have a feeling that this time around India might just go on to win the series provided they repeat the 03 batting performance.