Why India’s search for foreign coach ends in slips or silly points

The cricketing world knows why Woolmer is the most qualified and sought-after coach in the business, after his contract with the South African team finished last year. However, the word hasn’t reached India’s cricket mandarins. In their quest for the “best foreign coach”, Woolmer, it seems, has been left out.

“No, I haven’t been approached at all,” Woolmer confirmed. “If given a chance, and the terms are good, I would like to take up the challenge. Coaching the Indian team would be great,” he told The Indian Express.

The board is toying with certain names — Geoff Marsh, Dean Jones, John Wright, Andy Roberts… The list is long but they’ve missed out the best of them all.

Marsh quit his job as coach after he helped Australia win the World Cup. Jones and Write don’t have much international coaching experience. The great fast bowler Robert’s stint with the West Indies team ended in a nightmare.

Woolmer has a contract with English county Warwickshire till 2001 but he doesn’t think this can come in the way, if he is approached by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. “It all depends on the conditions in the contract. I don’t think this can be a big worry,” he said.

“It’s good that the Indians are looking for a foreign coach. In my view, the nationality of the coach doesn’t matter. He should understand the coaching techniques, his credibility should earn him the respect of players, he has to be patient and a good communicator,” Woolmer said.

“Good players don’t necessarily make good coaches. Coaching is a long-term idea. I have been coaching for long now,” he said. When asked if Kapil Dev’s stint went on similar lines, Woolmer said, “I don’t know about Kapil as I didn’t see him coach the side. Maybe, this could have been a reason.”

Regardless of India’s lacklustre performance for the past couple of years, the notes in Woolmer’s lap-top say “they are not a bad lot.” “When I see them play, I say, it’s a very good side but it’s missing something. They need to be more aggressive like South Africa, Australia and Pakistan.”

Woolmer felt the Indian batting was one of the strongest in the world. “But they need one quality fast bowler and one good spinner. Then, they can win matches. (Javagal) Srinath, I thought, was good and you need somebody to support him. I am surprised why India are not producing good spinners these days. Look at what they had in the ’70s — Bedi, Chandra, Venkat andPrassana. Where have they lost the art?”

Woolmer said about Sachin Tendulkar: “I saw him as the captain, it seemed as if he was not enjoying his game. He was always under pressure. Let him be Tendulkar the batsman only.”

The former South African coach thought “Shaun Pollock is doing a nice job with the South African team.” “But I fear the great player in him might one day be burdened because of captaincy pressures.” Woolmer felt the captain-coach relationship had to be very healthy, “something which I shared with Hansie Cronje.” The captain is the more important of the twoas he controls on-the-field action. The coach has to give him support and is basically a back-up, he said.