The complete coaching solution: Binny and a foreigner

Roger Binny © CricInfo

Roger Michael Humphrey Binny has brought the World Cup to India twice. He did it first in 1983 as the maximum wicket taker at a time when India took the world by storm, beating the mighty West Indies in a low scoring final. Earlier this year, Binny was the coach of the Under-19 side that went to Sri Lanka, remained unbeaten through the World Cup campaign and returned with the coveted trophy.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India will decide in the next few days about the future of its present coach Kapil Dev. If the murmurs that are doing the rounds of cricket circles are anything to go by, the decision has all but been made already. Kapil Dev is out. But who will be the next man? It has been clearly established that the BCCI has approached former Australian opener Geoff Marsh. John Wright, who opened the batting so successfully for New Zealand in the eighties, is also a name being bandied around for the job.

While it seems imminent that India will have a foreign coach in the near future, one is at times skeptical of the wisdom of such a move. The vagaries of Indian cricket are so idiosyncratic that it will take a while for any foreigner to get into the groove as coach. A foreign coach will certainly want some say in matters of team selection. And in Indian cricket it is most likely that any powers he gets will be solely on paper. The complexities of Indian cricket are best understood by one who has been at the receiving end of the same treatment. Like Roger Binny. He has been through the grind of age group cricket. In his playing days, there have been times when Binny has done well and yet was dropped. He truly understands the vagaries of Indian cricket.

Speaking to CricInfo's Anand Vasu over the telephone from his residence in Bangalore, Binny said "I leave it to the Board to decide what is best. I am willing to perform any task assigned to me." Surprisingly, the former all rounder was also more than willing to perform the role of interim coach, "I would gladly take up that offer even. I have worked with the youngsters selected in the squad and know exactly what needs to be done with them."

As always Binny was optimistic. When confronted with the possibilities of being overlooked in favour of a foreign coach, Binny was restrained. "If a foreigner is appointed as coach of the Indian team, he will find it quite difficult initially." This is certainly true. People have been debating for long the Foreigner versus Indian issue. Few, if any, have discussed the merits of having a foreigner-Indian coaching team. While the foreigner, John Wright or Geoff Marsh in this case, could exclusively deal with cricket issues, the Indian, Binny is the name that pops up first, could deal with the other issues.

One might argue that there should be nothing other than cricket in the picture. It is however important that the coach has his bearings on a host of other issues. A player could be struggling for form on various counts. As Dav Whatmore, the successful coach of the Sri Lankan team, pointed out quite correctly, when things are not going well for a player, even little things can add to the pressure on him.

Roger Binny is more likely to spot a little thing bothering Yuvraj Singh than Geoff Marsh or John Wright. However, a star like Sourav Ganguly, who is reportedly a difficult character, is much more likely to take orders from Geoff Marsh or John Wright than Roger Binny. For India to succeed, both the Gangulys and Yuvraj Singhs will have to be taken care of.

The Board is cash rich. Investing some of that in a coaching team that incorporates the best of both worlds is something AC Muthiah should seriously consider.