India should have hired AB de Villers as mentor for T20 World Cup : Wassan
The Hindu
“We can’t have the same coaching staff for the T20 and Test cricket,“ Wassan said
India needed to hire the best people to prepare for the T20 World Cup and someone like AB de Villiers would have done the job, former India cricketer Atul Wasaan said on Friday as he advocated the need to have completely different coaching staff for the shortest format.
Alex Hales and Jos Buttler ripped apart the Indian attack with consummate ease in the semifinal on Thursday, leading England to the final where they meet Pakistan on Sunday at the MCG.
Wassan said specialised coaching staff is required to guide the players in the slam-bang format.
"We can't have the same coaching staff for the T20 and Test cricket. You hire the best for T20 format. Why didn't we hire AB de Villers for the T20 World Cup as a mentor? He could have guided the team better. He can tell the players a bit about manufacturing the shots," Wassan told PTI.
"This game has proved again and again that you need a new breed. In 2007, we hardly had stars, the team was comprised of youngsters, they played freely and they won the title. We are relying too much on our bigger names to deliver all the time."
Wassan, who played four Tests and nine ODIs for India, said it's a wrong notion that excelling in IPL will guarantee success in international cricket.
"We also wrongly thought that the expertise of IPL will translate into the World Cup success. India is just faltering in big matches in do-or-die situations," he said.