Chappell vs Wright vs Marsh

Harish Krishnamachar

While we watched the flatter-to-deceive performance of the Indian cricket team in Nairobi and Sharjah, one of the most important decisions being made in Indian cricket history has gone largely unnoticed.

The debate on whether we need an imported coach is redundant, suffice to say that we have tried one of the best cricketers we have ever had and the experiment has been a disaster. While I admire the way he sticks up for India during his commentary stints and in his columns, Sunil Gavaskar should stop pontificating about not hiring a foreign coach unless he is prepared to put his own hat into the ring.

Let's take a quick look at the three candidates in the ring and try and think through the decision-making process and criteria that we will probably never have access to. At the outset, let me say I have excluded the monetary side of the evaluation, it should not be an issue with the BCCI.

Marsh: Easily the most successful of the three men and has a resume that you cannot ignore. I can understand why the BCCI would want to wait to speak to him. However there are some things we should remember:

1. He gave up the best coaching job in the world to be with his family and yet, in less than a year he wants to return to coaching, that too one of the toughest assignments in world cricket. I would question his motivation.

2. Marsh found the organised Australian calendar, which is easily, the most balanced cricket calendar among the cricket playing countries too difficult to handle. I think he would get snowed under the Indian cricket calendar and it's uncertainty.

3. And lastly, the most important reason why Marsh loses the job -- he has tasted success at the highest level in both forms of the game. Without doubt he was the right man at the right time for the Australian job. Does he have the motivation to start all over again? By picking Marsh I fear we could be picking a coach on his past performance and not one for the future.

Wright: The only reason we seem to have John Wright on the list, from what I can gather is his experience in the English County cricket system, most recently with Kent. That he is an opening batsman of merit as is Marsh is a coincidence, I presume, and not one of the selection criteria that the BCCI are putting in place. Are we thinking opening batsmen as coaches give us opening batsmen of stature? I hope not! But back to his evaluation:

1. No real demonstrated results of note. The English county system is not the best of systems in terms of attacking positive cricket. If anything it is too uni-dimensional (all seam and gloom).

2. Neither is the system in New Zealand geared towards anything dramatic, if anything it apes the Australian system and suffers in comparison on counts of aggression and professionalism. Let's not forget the Kiwi coach till recently was an Australian (Steve Rixon).

3. I guess one of the reasons we have him in the picture is because the two Australians on the shortlist may be too forthright for our system and Wright may just be the consensus candidate the BCCI is looking for. I hope for the sake of Indian cricket Hanumant Singh and Venkat, who are on the panel, do the right thing; they at least have their personal credibility at stake, unlike the other three on the panel.

Chappell: As is probably evident from my assessing him last, he is the man I think the BCCI should pick as coach of the talented but struggling Indian team, for the following reasons:

1. He has lived under the shadow of his more successful brother for a long time. In terms of both achievements and media visibility.

2. He has shown commitment and character in coaching one of the weakest sides in the Australian domestic competition.

3. Like Marsh he has been brought up in the tough and thoroughly professional Australian system.

4. He has the ability to rock the boat, a bit of which I believe the Indian team ( BCCI and players) need.

5. Most importantly, he has a point to prove. He, I think, needs to be seen as a visible success.

I rest my case by saying, pick from the best system (Australian) if our own media men and ex-cricket stars will not put their money and efforts where their mouth is (Good on you Kapil and Anshuman for trying). Pick the guy who has a point to prove just as the Indian team does!

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