Former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh urged the BCCI to explore the possibility of the Indian team having two coaches including one that understands T20 cricket properly.
The Indian team has two captains Rohit Sharma leading the side in Tests and One-day Internationals and Hardik Pandya in charge of the T20 team following the team’s semifinal exit at the last T20 World Cup.
“Yes, you have two captains, so you can have two coaches. Why not? Someone whose planning is different. Like England has done with Brendon McCullum. Someone like Virender Sehwag or Ashish Nehra who worked with Gujarat Titans and Hardik Pandya won his first tournament (IPL) as captain. So, bring someone who understands the concept of T20 and the demands of the game.
The coach knows that focus is on T20 cricket. Say if Ashish Nehra is the T20 coach, then he knows that his job is to make the Indian team champions in the T20 format, and Rahul Dravid knows he has to work on how the Indian team can be No.1 in Tests and ODIs,” Harbhajan said during an Idea Exchange session of The Indian Express.
When asked what he thinks is the reason India has not won a World Cup since 2011, Harbhajan said it boils down to the ability to handle pressure.
Harbhajan added that it is past due for India to claim a significant ICC championship given the talent at their disposal. Harbhajan responded that the capacity to handle pressure is the main factor in India's failure to win the World Cup since 2011.
He also said that the shuffling of players is to be blamed for the Indian team not going into a World Cup with a settled team.
He said: “It has become a bit of a pattern. In 2018-19 we saw that there was a lot of shuffling of players. Dinesh Karthik was playing, Rishabh Pant was also playing. How to win a big match, there is a little lack of experience. Big matches are high pressure. World Cup pressure is different from bilateral series. Bigger the tournament, the higher the pressure is. Very few people actually take that kind of pressure. We used to say that if Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli make runs, then India will win. But now there is Hardik Pandya. We have more players now (potential match-winners) and I hope this trend will change. With the kind of talent we have, I think we should be able to. If you are unable to win with the talent we have, then when will you win?”
Harbhajan Singh said that India being the home side in the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023 should play with the right kind of intent in order to be successful.
“I think we need to show a little more intent. If you are playing T20s then you can’t play it like a one-day match. If you are playing one-day, you can’t play it like a Test match. We can’t be dependent on two-three players to win you the championship. When you have a World Cup in front of you, you need eight to nine guys performing at the same time. One or two players can win you matches, but it is the team which can win you the tournament,” he said.
(Indian Express inputs)
