Coach's selection - A captain's call in Indian cricket

The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) interviewed the shortlisted candidates for the post of the Indian coach but the legendary trio of VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, and Sachin Tendulkar's combined experience wasn't enough to find the perfect prospect for the job. The committee had to hold back their decision in order to discuss the shortlisted candidates with Indian skipper Virat Kohli.

However, this pattern of a captain dictating even the administrative proceedings is only prevalent in India whereas everywhere else the coach enjoys full command over the dressing room and has full control over player selection for a tour as well. English coach Trevor Bayliss has enjoyed this privilege over the players during his tenure when he got the selection committee shuffled after the panel ruled out James Anderson for a series against Pakistan in 2016 which has proved beneficial for the English team as they have enjoyed major success in the recent past and are continuing to do so. Such is the situation that the candidates for the interview are being asked to define their role as the coach of the team and what would their strategy be in case they are in disagreement with the captain.

Indian captains have always been accredited for their leadership skills and on-field calls after a win in any format of the game. However, what goes unnoticed is that the captain makes the decision based on the coach's strategy at the start of the match and he is as much a star as the captain in any win that the team records. The unnoticed fact has led to the role of skipper being given more importance and power over the coach.  

The current Indian captain's power was on full display when Anil Kumble was forced to step down as the Indian coach when Kohli declined to soften his stance against Kumble's policy of man-management. In Kohli's case, Ravi Shastri was the chosen one who received the 28-year old's backing to contest for the post of the Indian coach after his brief stint as the team director after Gary Kirsten's tenure ended. However, Shastri had not applied for the post when BCCI first invited the applications but luckily he got a chance to enter the contest after BCCI invited the applications for the post of the Indian coach once again after Kumble's resignation. Whether it was Ravi Shastri's strong luck or a perfectly orchestrated move according to Kohli's wishes no one knows but the move certainly raised many eyebrows and even the CAC was reportedly not informed of the decision and as a form of protest, an engineer from Kolkata with no cricketing background also applied for the post questioning the moves absurdity. 

Shastri was picked over experienced names like Lalchand Rajput and Tom Moody. Lalchand Rajput had managed the Indian team briefly after the 2007 World Cup and is currently coaching Afghanistan who have improved leaps and bounds under him. Afghanistan recently showed their mettle against West Indies drawing the ODI series and gaining Test status for the first time in their cricketing history. Tom Moody, on the other hand, is the current coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad and has previously coached Sri Lanka when he led them to the finals of the 2007 World Cup. However, it is to be noted that Shastri was picked as team India's coach and handled the team for a two-year period as the director. The development itself is an evidence of the rewards you receive for ending up in an Indian captain's good books and history was repeated yet again as one of the captain's favourite ended up taking the post.

The time has come for the Indian board to define a captain's jurisdiction and its own with regards to the administrative proceedings of the team. The Indian cricket fraternity is still recovering from the loss of Anil Kumble's experience under whom the team had improved considerably, and to ensure no other person with Kumble's talent and stature suffers the same fate, the board needs to put its authority to use keeping the betterment of Indian cricket in mind.