The Indian team management has been experimenting with several things since the team’s exit from the T20 World Cup 2022. A lot of senior players, including Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, haven’t played many T20Is for India since then, whereas all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been given leadership responsibilities in the shortest format. It’s a clear indication that the concept of split captaincy is being formulated in the team. And now, former off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has come up with the idea of ‘split coaching’.
Speaking with The Indian Express, Harbhajan opined that Team India should have two coaches with one appointed as a specialist in T20 cricket.
“Yes, you have two captains, so you can have two coaches. Why not? Someone whose planning is different. Like England has done with Brendon McCullum. Someone like Virender Sehwag or Ashish Nehra who worked with Gujarat Titans and Hardik Pandya won his first tournament (IPL) as captain. So, bring someone who understands the concept of T20 and the demands of the game,” Harbhajan was quoted as saying by Indian Express.
“The coach knows that focus is on T20 cricket. Say if Ashish Nehra is the T20 coach, then he knows that his job is to make the Indian team champions in the T20 format, and Rahul Dravid knows he has to work on how the Indian team can be No.1 in Tests and ODIs,” he added.
The idea of having different coaches for different formats is already in use in international cricket. Last year, England roped in former New Zealand captain Brendon McDonald as their Test coach while Matthew Mott is coaching the side in white-ball format.
Harbhajan further spoke about India’s troublesome journeys in the past two editions of the T20 World Cup. In 2021, the Men in Blue couldn’t even make it to the knockouts. Last year in Australia, they were mowed down by England in the semi-finals, getting knocked out with a 10-wicket defeat.
According to Harbhajan, continuous changing and chopping caused instability in the side.
“It has become a bit of a pattern. In 2018-19 we saw that there was a lot of shuffling of players. Dinesh Karthik was playing, Rishabh Pant was also playing. How to win a big match, there is a little lack of experience. Big matches are high-pressure. World Cup pressure is different from bilateral series. The bigger the tournament, the higher the pressure is. Very few people actually take that kind of pressure,” Harbhajan said.
“We used to say that if Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli make runs, then India will win. But now there is Hardik Pandya. We have more players now (potential match-winners) and I hope this trend will change,” he added.
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