The competitors amongst worldwide cricket groups to win silverware is getting extra fierce as every match passes by. Presently, Australia are dominating Take a look at cricket, New Zealand and England in One-Day internationals, and India within the shortest format of the sport, T20Is. Gamers are additionally getting extra aggressive to characteristic within the beginning eleven and carry out persistently. However the coaches stay the central mind behind the group’s success in each recreation format.
Head coaches with expertise of enjoying worldwide cricket and mentoring nationwide groups are at all times in demand. However groups have stunned many by profitable large tournaments with some unknown names. Gamers, particularly leaders throughout the squad, want fixed help from the top coach when they’re having a nasty day within the discipline. The connection between a captain and a coach performs a giant half within the group’s success as nicely. For India, the Virat Kohli-Ravi Shastri pair dominated the world cricket final decade and Ricky Ponting-John Buchanan duo for Australia earlier than.
These days, head coaches have loads of help from their specialised workers in each division. However they’re nonetheless the primary man behind the group’s success or failure on the sphere. Many coaches want time to settle with a brand new time and construct up an everyday eleven from the scratch. Whereas some coaches have turned the group’s fortunes as quickly as they landed the large job.
Right here’s the record of top-five coaches who turned the group’s fortunes after taking the helm.
1. John Wright (India, 2000-2005)
Indian cricket went by means of a tricky part within the 1999-2000 season with a variety of modifications within the administration. Senior Indian gamers have been named in an alleged match-fixing scandal and the group’s poor performances led to a giant change. Sourav Ganguly changed ineffective Sachin Tendulkar as a captain and former New Zealand batter John Wright got here rather than coach Kapil Dev.
Wright was the primary overseas coach for the Indian cricket group. He put in new coaching drills and strategies and united star trio Sachin, Saurav, and Rahul Dravid. India loved rapid success by defeating mighty Australia by 2-1 within the Take a look at sequence at a house. This additionally ended Australia’s 16-match profitable streak in Take a look at cricket.
He additionally mentored Group India to historic away Take a look at wins in Australia and England. His largest success got here in 2003 when India reached the World Cup closing however have been defeated by Australia. India loved back-to-back sequence wins in Pakistan in 2004 however ultimately, Wright was changed by Greg Chappell subsequent 12 months. He joined Indian Premier League facet Mumbai Indians in 2013 and instantly guided them to their first-ever title win. He’s additionally praised for fast-tracking Jasprit Bumrah within the squad when he joined Mumbai Indian’s expertise scout group.
2. Andy Flower (England, 2009-2014)
Andy Flower was nonetheless enjoying with County facet Essex however an harm and an opportunity to be a part of England’s workers compelled him to retire in 2007. The Zimbabwe nice initially joined the England setup as an assistant coach to Peter Moores in 2007 and was the group’s director for the subsequent two years. He changed Moores in 2009 and have become the one second overseas coach in England’s cricketing historical past.
He quickly fashioned a superb partnership with a brand new captain Andrew Strauss and led England to rapid success. On his appointment, England misplaced the Wisden Trophy in March 2009 however defeated West Indies three months later. Flower guided England to their largest success by profitable the 2010-11 Ashes sequence by 1-3 in Australia. This was their first Ashes win in Australia in 24 years and after that England continued to dominate Take a look at cricket for some time.
England additionally gained their first-ever ICC event of their historical past by lifting the 2010 T20 World Cup trophy in West Indies. The Three Lions topped the Take a look at rating after beating India by 4-0 at residence in 2011. In addition they recorded a Take a look at sequence win on England soil after twenty years in 2012 and in addition retained the Ashes the subsequent 12 months. He resigned in 2014 after England misplaced the Ashes down below by 5-0. He joined England Lions as their coach in 2014 and remained on the helm until 2019.
3. Gary Kirsten (India, 2008-2011)
“He was one of the best factor that occurred to Indian cricket,” MS Dhoni mentioned when requested about Gary Kirsten in 2010. The previous South African batter changed Gregg Chappell after India’s horrific present within the 2007 World Cup. He united the dressing room after the controversial Chappell-Ganguly row. Kirsten is extensively regarded for his administration abilities and constructing relationship with each participant, which helped India drastically throughout his reign.
His first sequence as Indian group head coach got here in opposition to South Africa, which led to a 1-1 draw. However, he guided India to a house sequence win in opposition to Australia and their first-ever bilateral sequence win on Sri Lankan soil. India additionally recorded ODI and Take a look at sequence win in New Zealand after a niche of 40 years. India’s largest success below his steering got here in 2011 after they gained World Cup after an extended wait of 28 years.
He was largely credited for the group’s success by many former and present Indian gamers. Beneath him, India additionally grew to become the top-ranked Take a look at group for the primary time. He took some arduous choices of dropping senior gamers and backed MS Dhoni to construct up towards the brand new period.
4. Dav Whatmore (Sri Lanka, 1996 & Bangladesh, 2003)
The previous Australian batter is likely one of the coaches who loved extra success and fame as a coach than as a participant. He performed solely seven Take a look at matches for Australia earlier than retiring in 1988. He got here to fame by stunning the cricketing fraternity and profitable the 1996 World Cup with Sri Lanka, his birthplace nation. Since then he coached many nationwide groups and is termed out as one of the sought-after coaches on the earth.
Sri Lanka have been by no means a favourite to win and even attain the finals of the World Cup in 1996. However Whatmore, with captain Arjuna Ranatunga, utterly modified Sri Lanka’s fortunes within the cricketing world. He was credited for bringing a extra attacking strategy tactic to one-day cricket which largely succeeded with Sri Lankan openers Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana in World Cup. They managed to chase a 242-run goal within the closing in opposition to mighty Australians.
Whatmore did the identical with Bangladesh when he led them to the Tremendous Eights within the 2007 World Cup. He joined Ranji Trophy group Baroda in 2021 after a short stint with Nepal nationwide group.
5. Brendon McCullum (England, 2022 – Current)
Brendon McCullum, with no expertise in teaching a nationwide group, changed Chris Silverwood as England’s new head coach in red-ball cricket in Might 2022. On the pitch, Ben Stokes changed star batter and former captain Joe Root to begin a brand new period in English cricket.
The previous New Zealand skipper made a direct influence along with his new teaching position. He put his religion in the identical group with no large modifications however the outcomes have been pleasingly stunning. England loved a direct turnaround by defeating World Take a look at Champions New Zealand at residence by profitable all three matches. They approached every recreation with an attacking mindset and dominated Kiwis by simply chasing 250-plus targets in all three matches.
England continued that momentum in opposition to India within the rescheduled fith Take a look at match by efficiently chasing a 378-run goal with seven wickets remaining. As of now, McCullum is having fun with 100% success along with his new position and England’s new strategy of enjoying Take a look at matches is termed as ‘Bazball.’
