Vacancy: Guru Gary leaving Indian team after World Cup finale.

How will be next coach of Indian Team?

Its time to say bye-bye to the most successful coach of India team, Gary Kirsten. He joined Indian team 3 years back when Indian team was in dire straits because of the Greg Chappell who divided the team for his vested interest. First round exit from 2007 World Cup was the lowest point in Indian cricket. That team had potential but Greg Chappell's policies helped rival teams more than Indian team. I think Chappell knew that if India get the exit then it will be easy for Australia to win its 3rd consecutive title and that happened. Mr.Chappell changed the batting order of maestro Sachin Tendulkar against his likings, ignored the senior players advice and did whatever possible bad for Team India and India cricket gone down and down in Chappell era. 

It was Gary Kirsten who took the place of Greg Chappell and  given new lease of life to the Indian cricket. He joined Indian team and changed its complexion completely. He united this team and worked hard from behind the scenes without anybody's notice unlike Chappell who always hogged the lime-light. Gary's stint with Team India turned into a boon as India first time hit the highest ranking in the test cricket and became No.1 test team in the World leaving teams like Australia and South Africa behind and it is still No.1 ranked team in test cricket for last two years. In ODIs also team never slipped below No.3 and it consistently remain No.2 team and also grabbed the No.1 spot in ODIs for sometime. 

Gary Kirsten is responsible for the best moments of Indian cricket and he definitely followed the ex-coach John Wright's way while coaching this Indian team. Now Team India is in finals of the World Cup 2011 and looking good to win the title as well but I must say credit goes to Guru Gary. Players also like him and respect him very much and want him to stay back but Gary have few personal commitments which he needs to fulfill, so he has already made his mind to leave. 

So its hunt for new coach begins from Sunday for Team India. There are few names which can be considered for the job. First and foremost is Stephen Fleming of New Zealand. He is currently coaching the Chennai Super Kings and his performance is very good with that team. Dhoni also have very good rapport with Fleming. But sometime back Fleming rejected the idea  of coaching the Indian team due to his personal commitments but I think if he can give a thought then he can prove to be a good coach. I think if our captain has very good rapport with Fleming then he is the man for the job.

Next is Dave Whatmore. He was the coach of the Sri Lankan team which won the Cricket World Cup title in 1996. He redefined the cricket completely by sending Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana up the order in that edition of the World Cup and taught the cricket fraternity, how to take advantage of first 15 overs in the ODIs. Under his regime, Sri Lankan cricket scaled new heights and became force in World cricket because before 1996 World Cup Sri Lanka was considered as minnows. He changed the complexion of Sri Lankan cricket. He also coached the Bangladesh team and Bangladesh team also improved tremendously under his coaching. He is more Sri Lankan then Autralian and best man to fill the shoes of Gary Kirsten as a Indian coach. He is currently coach of Kolkata Knightriders in IPL.

Another man who  expressed his interest in coaching Indian team is Justin Langer of Australia. He is working as Australian team's batting coach but I think he is not the man for Indian cricket because we already have very poor experience with Greg Chappell, so Langer is not the man. He showed interest in Indian team's coaching but under his coaching Australian batting has not performed well, so one can easily understand that he will spoil the hard work of Guru Gary, if he become the coach of Team India. Australia lost England in Ashes and knocked out of the ICC World Cup 2011 as well. As a Australian, aggression and domination is in his nature, so strictly no to Mr. Langer because his mindset will not going to match the minset of our players. I believe if Indian team have to move further in World cricket then we have to avoid Australian coaches who are good for nothing. Its pity that 7 out of 10 IPL team have Australian coaches.

Next comes, our very own DADA(Sourav Ganguly). He expressed his interest in coaching Indian team and I believe he is the best man among all to be fit for the job. He knows this team in and out and many players of this current Indian team adore him like anything. He was the one, under whom careers of Sehwag, Dhoni, Zaheer, Nehra, Yuvraj, Gambhir, Harbhajan started and flourished. He lead this Indian team very well under his captaincy and some credit for today's Indian team success goes to him as well because he build this team from the scratch. Most importantly till last year he was playing active first class cricket so he knows Indian domestic circuit very well and will identify new and fresh talent for Indian cricket. Good thing with Sourav Ganguly is that he is having very good eye in spotting talent. He will also gel very well with this team because till recently he was playing with this Indian team. Moreover, he worked with coach John Wright , so he knows how to coach this Indian team. Remember we won T20 World Cup in 2007 when Lalchand Rajput was the coach of Indian team and in short stint he did wonderful job. Till date Sourav Ganguly is the most successful captain in Indian cricket.

So I believe when we have lot of talent in our country then why should we look outside. I think Indian coach will connect better with Indian team except we get some rare  species like Gary Kirsten or John Wright. In the end, hats-off to Mr. Kirsten for giving this Indian team new heights because Mr. Greg Chappell left this Indian team with all kind of problems. So strict no to Australian coaches.