‘No need to remove Dhoni’
21 Aug 2014 4:12 AM IST
On a day when BCCI cracked the whip in the aftermath of the 1-3 humiliating Test series loss to England, the board also made it clear that it was fully behind Dhoni. The India captain enjoys the blessings of ICC chairman N Sriniavasan, who has been removed as BCCI president by the Supreme Court.
‘There is no need to remove Dhoni as the captain,’ said BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel. The board, however, has acted tough by clipping the wings of chief coach Duncan Fletcher. Fielding coach Trevor Penney and bowling coach Joe Dawes, who were hand-picked by Fletcher, were dropped and former India captain Ravi Shastri was appointed director of the team for the ODI series starting August 25.
Patel also said the team will be re-energised under Ravi Shastri. ‘We are quite sure that the boys will be re-energised under the guidance of Shastri. His on-the-field and off-the-field knowledge will be very helpful to to bring the team back into the game,’ Patel told reporters.
‘Since last two weeks BCCI is discussing the entire issue. As a combination of much debate and discussion on Monday, the decision was taken to appoint Shastri,’ said Patel.
Fletcher Can not be blame for India’s poor show: Stewart
Former England captain Alec Stewart on Tuesday batted for under-fire coach Duncan Fletcher, saying the Zimbabwean cannot be held responsible for India’s pathetic show in England since a coach can only guide and execution on the field was players’ job.
‘Duncan is the best coach I have worked under. He was England coach when I was finishing my playing career. He is a good coach and I think he has been good for India. Fletcher cannot bat for the Indian batsmen. He can pass all the knowledge he has gained but the batsmen hold the bat and they make decisions on the field,’ Stewart argued.
‘Gautam Gambhir’s run-out before lunch is not Fletcher’s fault. Chasing wide balls, playing wrong lines and getting out is not Fletcher’s fault. Coaches coach and prepare the players. Players prepare and perform. And the Indian players haven’t performed,’ Stewart added.
When asked where India went wrong in the last three Tests after winning at Lord’s by 95 runs, Stewart replied, ‘As good as India were at Lord’s in conditions tailor made for England, the home side pressed the self destruct button themselves in that match. And India were very good in taking advantage of that. Since then England have been brilliant as the roles were reversed.’
‘Look, I am a huge fan of Virat Kohli. And I really admire Cheteshwar Pujara. They have other good batsmen as well, someone like Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane. But I haven’t seen the application or their technical aspect of the game to cope with the moving ball and that has what cost India,’ he said.
Indeed Kohli and Pujara have been the centre of India’s failures, averaging 13.40 and 22.20 in the five Tests. If the practice games are counted too, Kohli hasn’t even scored a half-century on tour. Rohit Sharma hasn’t either but he didn’t play as many games. Vijay and Rahane got into early form but they were unable to cope with the pressure of James Anderson and Stuart Broad once the two strike-bowlers found their rhythm.
‘India’s bowling has been quite decent. Upfront they missed Ishant Sharma when he was injured. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is an English-type of bowler but the itinerary of five Tests meant that he had to do the majority work and eventually he got tired. So it comes down to the Indian batsmen,’ said Stewart.
‘There is no need to remove Dhoni as the captain,’ said BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel. The board, however, has acted tough by clipping the wings of chief coach Duncan Fletcher. Fielding coach Trevor Penney and bowling coach Joe Dawes, who were hand-picked by Fletcher, were dropped and former India captain Ravi Shastri was appointed director of the team for the ODI series starting August 25.
Patel also said the team will be re-energised under Ravi Shastri. ‘We are quite sure that the boys will be re-energised under the guidance of Shastri. His on-the-field and off-the-field knowledge will be very helpful to to bring the team back into the game,’ Patel told reporters.
‘Since last two weeks BCCI is discussing the entire issue. As a combination of much debate and discussion on Monday, the decision was taken to appoint Shastri,’ said Patel.
Fletcher Can not be blame for India’s poor show: Stewart
Former England captain Alec Stewart on Tuesday batted for under-fire coach Duncan Fletcher, saying the Zimbabwean cannot be held responsible for India’s pathetic show in England since a coach can only guide and execution on the field was players’ job.
‘Duncan is the best coach I have worked under. He was England coach when I was finishing my playing career. He is a good coach and I think he has been good for India. Fletcher cannot bat for the Indian batsmen. He can pass all the knowledge he has gained but the batsmen hold the bat and they make decisions on the field,’ Stewart argued.
‘Gautam Gambhir’s run-out before lunch is not Fletcher’s fault. Chasing wide balls, playing wrong lines and getting out is not Fletcher’s fault. Coaches coach and prepare the players. Players prepare and perform. And the Indian players haven’t performed,’ Stewart added.
When asked where India went wrong in the last three Tests after winning at Lord’s by 95 runs, Stewart replied, ‘As good as India were at Lord’s in conditions tailor made for England, the home side pressed the self destruct button themselves in that match. And India were very good in taking advantage of that. Since then England have been brilliant as the roles were reversed.’
‘Look, I am a huge fan of Virat Kohli. And I really admire Cheteshwar Pujara. They have other good batsmen as well, someone like Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane. But I haven’t seen the application or their technical aspect of the game to cope with the moving ball and that has what cost India,’ he said.
Indeed Kohli and Pujara have been the centre of India’s failures, averaging 13.40 and 22.20 in the five Tests. If the practice games are counted too, Kohli hasn’t even scored a half-century on tour. Rohit Sharma hasn’t either but he didn’t play as many games. Vijay and Rahane got into early form but they were unable to cope with the pressure of James Anderson and Stuart Broad once the two strike-bowlers found their rhythm.
‘India’s bowling has been quite decent. Upfront they missed Ishant Sharma when he was injured. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is an English-type of bowler but the itinerary of five Tests meant that he had to do the majority work and eventually he got tired. So it comes down to the Indian batsmen,’ said Stewart.
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