Duncan Fletcher: Right man for the job?

Duncan Fletcher

With Gary Kirsten having taken India to the pinnacle of cricketing success, Team India's new coach Duncan Fletcher, despite his mentoring credentials, has a tough act to follow.

 

Even though the former Zimbabwe captain has a fair idea of what it feels to be in the eye of the storm having faced up to a tough English media, coaching World Champions India will be akin to taking the poison chalice.

Success here will catapult you to the public imagination of disproportionate belief, while failure will the same turn on to you.

Where Gary Kirsten excelled as the coach was the fact that the South African maintained a very low profile and was never eager to be the centre of attention, something which the Zimbabwean must strive to do if he wants to see out the two-year deal offered to him by the BCCI.

The cricketing world saw what happened to a certain Australian who had a brief stint with the Indian team as the coach and ended up getting the boot.

What Fletcher must keep in mind is that the Indian public is one which wants a six off every delivery that an Indian batsman hits and a wicket off every ball bowled by an Indian. So the expectations are such where too much is never enough!

During his time as the English coach, the English team's test record improved considerably but on the contrary the ODI's saw the Three Lions perform miserably.

This was because the English side had become a one-dimensional unit, one which was led by the Hussain-Fletcher alliance, something which Fletcher might have to repeat when it comes to decision-making with iconic skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Former English captain Nasser Hussain was one who had a mind of his own and Fletcher might find a likeness of that with Dhoni.

The Indian skipper has been known to gamble with team-selection and on-field tactics. Fletcher knows all about following impulses as it was that which led him to select Ashley Giles over Monty Panesar.

The inexperience of Kirsten was luckily never brought to question, as the Indian team kept climbing the ladder to success and with them Kirsten increased his stock as a coach. What Team India will definitely get from Fletcher being at the helm of affairs is pedigree, the experience of a seasoned coach, something which surprisingly India has not enjoyed for more than a decade.

The appointment of Duncan Fletcher might just be the dawn of a new era, but after the much-loved Gary Kirsten left on a high, its imperative that Fletcher carries on the good work and as expected should do even better. He obviously knows the amount of pressure that comes with being a part of the Indian cricket setup and with the country still basking in the glory of the World Cup, a loss under his tenure which might probably begin with the tour of West Indies, might not go down so well with the country.