Kohli Has His Way With Shastri’s Selection, Now He Needs Results

So, the worst-kept secret is out!

Ravi Shastri has been re-appointed as the head coach for two more years by the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) after a process where the final winner was known even before a single interview had taken place.

Shastri’s appointment was a foregone conclusion the moment captain Virat Kohli made public his support for him. Then, CAC member Anshuman Gaekwad also threw his weight behind Shastri.

Sham Process

When the whole process ended, Gaekwad sort of alluded to the fact that Shastri knew the system, knew the problems, and therefore had a vision for the future, whereas the others were coming in fresh.

Well, just to contradict Gaekwad, the whole point of an interview process is to get fresh ideas and a fresh approach. If everything is known by Shastri, then why have these interviews?

Despite all that the three panellists, including Kapil Dev and Shanta Rangaswamy, may claim, it was a completely known fact that Shastri and in fact, maybe the entire support staff, barring maybe Sanjay Bangar (the batting coach) would get an extension for two more years.

Like it happens in most cases, you have to be seen to be fair in your process and go through it, which some may describe as a ‘sham’.

Once the captain has made his choice clear, it becomes difficult to go against it. How much ever the coach selectors may deny, the decision was already done once Kohli’s opinion was heard loud and clear.

Always the Captain’s Choice

But this is not a Kohli-specific thing alone. In the past also, Indian captains have made their choices clear.

In 2000, Sourav Ganguly batted for John Wright to be India’s first ever overseas coach. Even then we went through a process in Chennai with Geoff Marsh and Greg Chappell also making presentations before a panel involving Raj Singh Dungarpur, Hanumant Singh and S Venkatraghavan.

Then in 2005, it was widely known that Ganguly pushed for Chappell to be the new coach while other senior players were keen on Tom Moody. Even then we had a process where Chappell, alongside Moody, Mohinder Amarnath and Desmond Haynes made presentations before a panel involving Sunil Gavaskar, Venkatraghavan and Shastri.

In 2007, Rahul Dravid pushed for South Africa’s Graham Ford to be India’s coach. Ford made a dash to Chennai to meet the same panel as in 2005, along with senior BCCI officials. England’s ex-spinner John Emburey also made an appearance to give interviews but everyone (including Emburey) knew it was a token contest.

It’s a different matter that Ford saw the massive media presence and developed cold feet after he went back to United Kingdom and turned down the job.

Gary Kirsten was appointed without any public interview process in 2007 but in the dead of the night, at the then BCCI president Sharad Pawar’s Delhi residence, in what was a stealth operation. Even then Test skipper Anil Kumble was involved in the process during that eventful night.

Continuing Tradition

Kohli was therefore not out of line when he made his choice known to the world at large. The only thing different was that unlike his predecessors, he was not private in voicing his opinion. The captains of the past retained plausible deniability by pretending to not be aware of the process to appoint coaches, but those in the know always knew where their heart lay.

Kohli is, therefore, different. He is the symbol of New India, which is brash, upfront and not afraid to voice opinions. This might be good in theory, but in practice, puts the applicants for a post in an extremely embarrassing position.

Kohli’s role in Kumble’s exit as head coach would have sent alarm bells ringing across the globe. Who would want to enter a dressing room with a chastened skipper waiting to ‘unwelcome’ you? Yet you must laud the candidates who applied!

Small Field

Look at the other candidates, Lalchand Rajput and Robin Singh knew they were always going to be last in the race. Yet they deserve kudos for taking part in the process.

The two other foreigners-Mike Hesson and Tom Moody-were equally adept candidates. In fact Moody is the most persistent of the lot having applied for the role in 2005, 2016, 2017 and now again in 2019.

There must be something about the Indian coach’s role which still excites Moody. But now this position is well and truly beyond him, because in two years’ time he would have become too old for the role, if present conditions are applied.

The candidate who would have been ideal for India and Kohli was Hesson. He is not high profile, prefers to stay in the background and prepares meticulously. He was the ideal coach for this Indian squad, considering the workload in the coming years.

We have five different targets for next four years: World Test Championship, two T20 World Cups (2020 and 2021), ODI World Cup in 2023, and the ODI league (from May 2020).

Best Choice

You would now need three different squads, with around 50 players playing in different formats. Very few of all format players will be on supply, so the head coach would need to be on the top of his game with his plans.

Hesson would have been the ideal candidate for that. The way he transformed an under-resourced New Zealand along with a high profile captain Brendon McCullum was a lesson for all. Hesson would have worked bigger wonders with a bigger database that would have been on offer for him during his possible India stint.

India’s loss could well be Bangladesh or Pakistan’s gain, because it is pretty certain that one of those two countries will gladly snap Hesson up.

Show Us Results

Five years is an ideal time for any coach/team director to show his value for a side. Then you need fresh ideas.

Under Shastri, India have had two successive World Cup semi-final exits (2015 and 2019), a T20 World Cup semi-final exit in 2016, away Test series losses in Australia (2014-15), South Africa (2018) and England (2018).

So, we are still where we have always been, even after we discount the epoch making Test series win Down Under against and second string Australia in early 2019.

Hyperbole can only you get so far and not farther. Shastri and even Kohli will now need results to back tall claims, else their reign over Indian cricket will not last for long.

(Chandresh Narayanan is a former cricket writer with The Times of India, The Indian Express, ex-Media Officer for ICC and the Delhi Daredevils. He is also the author of World Cup Heroes, Cricket Editorial consultant, professor and cricket TV commentator.)