Empower the India coach, curtail Twenty20
With India looking to avoid a whitewash in Australia, Rohit Mahajan, writing in Outlook , has ten suggestions for the BCCI to help resurrect Indian cricket
Dustin Silgardo
25-Feb-2013
With India looking to avoid a whitewash in Australia, Rohit Mahajan, writing in Outlook, has ten suggestions for the BCCI to help resurrect Indian cricket. Among them are giving the India coach the power to stop cricketers from participating in other tournaments, involving top players in Ranji Trophy games and improving the marketing of Test cricket.
When he coached England, current Indian coach Duncan Fletcher conceptualised the central contract system, wherein country came before county. Thus Andy Flower, the England coach, can withhold players from domestic cricket if he thinks it’s in the national team’s interest. England have too much T20 at the domestic level, but a player like Graeme Swann plays around eight matches a year, including the ones for England, because the interests of the country come first, not that of Nottinghamshire. Fletcher needs to be given the freedom to implement this in India.
Dustin Silgardo is a former sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo