Indian team coach is the most dispensable person in the squad: Sanjay Manjrekar

With the announcement of India’s next incumbent coach just around the corner, former cricketer and commentator Sanjay Manjrekar questioned the rationality behind the entire fuss of selecting Anil’s able successor. He termed the coach as the most dispensable person in the squad and that the Indian team is well off without a coach and the Cricket Board should not make a molehill out of a mountain about the absence of a coach in the squad.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was in a state of mental turmoil following Virat’s rift with Kumble and the subsequent pre-mature resignation of Anil from the post after calling the relationship between the two ‘untenable’.

Now, after a month since the fiasco, the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) has today asked for more time to decide the next coach. If reports are to be believed, Ravi Shastri, Virender Sehwag and Tom Moody look to be the ones who can walk away with the coveted post.

Manjrekar’s take on the coach issue

But here Manjrekar sounded his objection. In a recent tweet, he is critical of the time wasted on hunting a coach rather than utilizing it to find the best playing XI. He vented his frustration on how the chairman of selectors is whiling away his time and misusing his chair rather than paying attention to change the destiny and future of Indian cricket.

With the ICC World Cup just two years away, the Indian team still hasn’t made much progress in testing the young guns on international turf. Since the time is ripe to phase out the aging non-performing players and replace them with fresh blood, the Indian selectors haven’t made any head start in this regard. Manjrekar is worried about this. Hence that jab at the chairman of selectors.

Coming to the topic of the coach, Manjrekar’s tweet is right on his money. It is true that India doesn’t need a head coach. Let’s have a look at the recently concluded West Indies tour where the team did brilliantly without a coach. Batting consultant of India Sanjay Bangar had said that the seniors Dhoni and Yuvraj are mentoring the team in Anil’s absence since they have a wealth of experience under their belt.

Yes, Manjrekar is correct. India doesn’t require a coach but a team manager who can man the squad and has proper managerial skills. If we wind the clock back to 2007, we had Lalchand Rajput who was the team manager of India and under whom India won the inaugural ICC World T20 trophy. India scripted that historic win without a proper coach. That pretty much sums up the proposition of Sanjay Manjrekar that the Indian team will breathe fine without a coach.