The Indian cricket team's disastrous campaign in England has taken
some sheen off Duncan Fletcher's record as coach and he is now only left
with the five-match ODI series, which starts here on Saturday, to gain
some lost ground.
 Despite a disastrous start as India coach, Fletcher is still the right man to guide them, says experts. © AFP |
Few expect India to turn the corner in the one-day internationals or
Fletcher to be seen in a new light of respect and credit, which he has
earned during his coaching days at the Old Blighty.
Fletcher is just two tours old in his present assignment as coach of
the Indian team, but has so far been as inscrutable in deed as he
appears on the field behind his dark glasses.
The Fletcher of England, who rang in some defining structural
changes, bears little resemblance to the Fletcher of India who offers
little explanation for some ludicrous decisions taken this summer.
After India refused to go for the required 85 runs from 15 overs with
seven wickets in hand during the Dominica Test in July, Fletcher had
said the wicket was too slow to let that happen.
Now in England, he says the wickets have offered too much of seam and swing for his batters to do well.
Never did he criticise how Zaheer and RP Singh could straightaway
walked into a Test XI without any match-fitness, how Virender Sehwag
played when hardly fit and why practice sessions, more or less, are
restricted to a few hits in the nets.
Yet former England captain Nasser Hussain feels Indians couldn't have had a better man for the job than Fletcher.
"India are in very, very solid hands. What Duncan did for English
cricket is exceptional. He was the one who started the turnaround. A lot
of what's been done to the England team, Duncan should take credit
for," says Hussain.
In other words, for Fletcher to be effective, he ought to be given a
free hand where he could prepare the youngsters for tomorrow; began the
process of easing out ageing stars and generally make fitness the
primary norm for selection.
"There's going to be a slight cultural thing. He's going to want them
to be fitter, better prepared and better trained, and they just love
batting in the nets," stated Hussain.
"The modern way is to be in the nets and in the gym and work hard as
well, so he's going to have to fight a bit of a battle there. But his
results for England speak for themselves. It'll be a difficult job,
because they'll want a continuation of the success they've got at the
moment - but Duncan's the right man to do that.
"They're a slightly ageing side and he has to introduce players,
eventually put his arm around one of the greats and maybe move him
sideways."
Former South African captain Kepler Wessels recently said: "The
general consensus is that Fletcher was appointed as long as he continued
with the same coaching style as Gary Kirsten. Gary allowed the senior
players and superstars to run the show and do their own thing. The
senior players wanted Gary to stay on but when that didn't happen, they
wanted a like-for-like replacement.
"If he (Fletcher) agreed to go with the Kirsten approach, he can't
change now. The situation is crying out for more control and a firm
hand, but if he does flex his muscles, the players won't like it and it
is unclear whether the board will sanction a different approach."
By design or by accident, Wessels says Fletcher now finds himself between a "rock and a hard place".
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