Maintaining a balance between the cricket and the cricketers

Former West Indies cricketer Roy Marshall's comments on the madness of cricket players, with a focus on Gautam Gambhir's coaching potential.

Roy Marshall, the West Indies cricketer who made his name playing for Hampshire, famously said that cricket produced two kinds of madmen. The fast bowler, who thinks nothing of expending his energy so recklessly, and the opening batter who takes on such bowlers, ignoring the dangers.

But there is a third category of madman. This is the former player who coaches the Indian team. He voluntarily enters a dressing room and board offices full of egos, while the outside world waits poised to troll him on social media. If the players and officials don’t get to you, the fans will.

Gautam Gambhir, belongs to two of the three categories above.

It has been fascinating watching and reading the build-up Gambhir has been getting. It began in the media with the Board of Control for Cricket in India allegedly saying that Gambhir was on top of its wish list as head coach (no official was quoted, however). Soon former players were speaking as if Gambhir had already been appointed. After having tweeted “choose the coach wisely…” former skipper Sourav Ganguly followed up with “If he has applied, Gambhir will be a good coach,” which sounds like damning with faint praise. Ganguly seems to be interested in the job.

Finally, the man himself. “There is no bigger honour than coaching your national team,” Gambhir is quoted as saying, “You are representing 140 crore Indians and those across the globe as well.” That’s putting it in the right areas, as bowlers often say.

The last date for applications was May 27, and the BCCI which should have announced the names of the contenders soon after, has kept silent, leading to unnecessary speculation. We don’t know if Gambhir has applied, if Ganguly or anybody else has. The BCCI hates to take fans into confidence, it likes to function like a secret society.

It has said that the coach will handle all three formats, but perhaps the time is right for splitting the job. T20 is a highly specialised format, with tactics and techniques changing rapidly, and it makes sense to appoint someone who is closer to the format, having played it more recently and perhaps coached an IPL team.