With a few former cricketers guiding their own international teams, the practise of foreign coaches handling an international side appears to be fading.
After John Wright’s success, India continued to rely on foreigners for a long time. Following Wright’s departure, Gary Kirsten and later Duncan Fletcher effectively mentored the Men in Blue for an extended period of time.
Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan, and the West Indies are all looking to recruit their own nationals as head coaches. They believe that their own former players can better comprehend the players’ mindset than a foreigner. England has implemented a dual coaching model, with separate coaches for Tests and white-ball cricket.
At the top level, coaching is more about managing a squad than it is about teaching them the technical aspects of cricket. It is more important to manage a player’s personality than to alter skills for someone who is already playing international cricket.
The local coaches have improved their communication with the players. Even during the current IPL season, Chandrakant Pandit was named head coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders. Pandit is highly successful in domestic cricket. He was given a great opportunity to lead a top-level squad.
Let’s have a look at 3 former players who are currently mentoring their own national teams:
1) Rahul Dravid (India)
Rahul Dravid, one of the best servants of Indian cricket, was chosen as India’s head coach following the 2021 T20 World Cup, after Ravi Shastri’s contract expired.
Sourav Ganguly, the then-BCCI president, was instrumental in Dravid’s appointment. India has won multiple bilateral series under his guidance, but the coveted world trophy is yet to arrive. India were eliminated from the T20 World Cup in 2022 after being crushed by England in the semi-finals.
He will get a chance to clear the air when India takes on Australia in the World Test Championship final on June 7.
Dravid has experienced criticism from all sides, but things may change if India wins the WTC or the World Cup, which will be held in India later this year.
2) Andrew McDonald (Australia)
After Justin Langer resigned as Australia’s head mentor in February 2022, former Australian all-rounder Andrew McDonald took over. He was appointed interim head coach before being offered a full-time four-year deal a few months later.
McDonald has been Australia’s assistant coach since 2019, and he was an obvious option when Langer left. McDonald did not quite make it as a player, but his mentoring abilities were significant.
He only played four Tests for Australia and took nine wickets while also scoring a half-century. McDonald is optimistic that Australia will be crowned World Test champions when they face India in the WTC final.
3) Gary Stead (New Zealand)
The former New Zealand batter was appointed as the country’s head coach in August 2018 and has guided his soldiers well. Back in 2019, the Kiwis came close to winning their first World Cup under his leadership.
After the heartbreak, they eventually won a World Championship in 2021, when they triumphed over India in the WTC final. Under his guidance, New Zealand also advanced to the 2021 T20 World Cup final, where they were defeated by Australia.
Stead was a top-order hitter, played only five Tests for New Zealand in 1999. He was a successful trainer of New Zealand’s women’s team before taking over as head coach of the men’s squad from Mike Hesson.
