Unfriendly welcome for Fletcher in India
India’s newly-appointed coach Duncan Fletcher on Thursday got a taste
of the challenges he faces when two senior former players said a fellow
countryman should have got the job instead.
Fletcher, a former Zimbabwean all-rounder who rose to prominence
during his eight-year stint as England coach, was awarded a two-year
contract Wednesday by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar, former Indian captains and influential
voices in the cricket establishment, expressed displeasure over
Fletcher’s appointment.
“Who is Duncan Fletcher?” Dev told the Hindustan Times newspaper. “I
would like to see Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh (former India
players) as coaches of the Indian team.
Not because they are Indians but because they did a great job at the
T20 World Cup in 2007.”
Gavaskar said former India all-rounder Mohinder Amarnath, who played
a key role in guiding the team to their first World Cup win in 1983,
should have been picked.
“Someone like Amarnath would have been a better choice for the simple
reason that the core of the Indian team today is from the Hindi-speaking
belt,” he told the NDTV news channel. NEW DELHI, AFP |