The BCCI is thinking about making an addition to the India Cricket Team coaching staff. It is reported that a specialist batting coach is set to be appointed to help Team India after their disastrous form. India currently has 4 support staff with the addition of head coach Gautam Gambhir. However, contrary to popular belief, India should get rid of the 2 assistant coaches and hire just a specialist batting coach.
As the saying goes, “Too many cooks spoil the broth” and that can become the case right ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy. Currently, Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate are the two assistant coaches. Meanwhile, T Dilip is the fielding coach, and Morne Morkel is the specialist bowling coach. The addition of a new coach will take the count to 5 coaches.
Why India doesn’t need Two assistant coaches?
Under Rahul Dravid, things were much simpler. India had just 3 specialist coaches. Paras Mhambrey (Bowling coach), Vikram Rathour (Batting coach) and T Dilip (fielding coach). And that did the trick for the Men in Blue. India won the T20 World Cup and the Asia Cup in 2023. The team also reached the finals of the ODI World Cup and the WTC Finals.
Under Gautam Gambhir, things have been quite different. India lost out on a chance of making it to the World Test Championship (WTC) Finals. They were humiliated at home in a 3-0 whitewash by Kiwis. And come the Border Gavaskar Trophy, India lost 3-1. Now in a bid to improve the team, a new specialist batting coach is being sought by the BCCI.
Ideal, Abhishek Nayar should serve as the batting coach, but that is not the case. With veteran batters like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma faltering, India find themselves in a precarious situation. While a counter-argument can be – “The more the merrier”, that isn’t how the real world works. The ideal scenario for India should be have one specialist batting coach and not 2 assistant coaches.
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Team India is already under huge pressure to deliver in the ICC Champions Trophy with Gambhir’s tenure being accessed. But things can go from bad to worse with the addition of a new coach. The ideas and principles of a new batting coach can be opposite to what the team believes and this in turn can cause more harm to the team than doing any good. And this means the BCCI needs to take a call on the two Assistant coaches.
It remains to be seen what the think tank decides. Meanwhile, the pressure will be on both the coaches and the players to deliver. India have a golden chance of lifting silverware. India last won the ICC Champions Trophy back in 2013 and lost out in the finals to Pakistan in 2017.
