Sourav Ganguly emerged victorious from his spat with coach Greg Chappell. But Chappell is having the last laugh. How are other captains faring in struggles against their coaches?
Just the other day we met the captain of another team and he was fuming against his coach. "I am the one on the field. Sitting with the spectators and criticising the captain is easy. But the coach should appreciate ground realities, only then can we adopt the right tactics!"
"But surely, your coach must know a lot about tactics too," we said.
"But he doesn't!" he exploded. "He has not once stepped on the field himself! How can he understand the intricacies of play? I was attempting a great manoeuvre to outsmart the Pakistan team—but he poked his nose and botched up everything!"
"How on earth did he land his job as coach if he himself has never played?"
He shrugged and muttered, "That's the way it is with our team. Our coach is a sort of hereditary post. Sometimes the system worked—some coaches did master the theory of the game. But this guy is the pits—he knows nothing!"
"So how will you carry on?"
"I've told the coach to stop interfering once I am on the field!"
"Will he listen?"
"Can't say. He's asked me to quit by December. I've told him to stay home and stop bothering about the team."
"Where's his home?"
"In Nagpur—that's where he hangs out all the time..."
Another team captain was complaining about his coach for relying on outside advice instead of listening to him. "I've nothing against the coach personally," he said. "But I can't even position the team members as I would like! The coach decides everything. That's why we bungled the Patna test. Outsiders influence the coach all the time. I'm trying to improve team performance with much-needed reforms. But these advisors, who are not even in the team, prevent it. Just because they claim to be team supporters they think they can order the team about! But the coach listens to them. I tell you, sometimes I get so fed up I just want to quit!"
"Maybe you should have a heart-to-heart talk with the coach. You just said you are not against the coach but the advisors. Tell the coach to get rid of the advisors!"
"I've tried several times," he said sadly. "But she just won't listen..."
(Puri can be reached at rajinderpuri2000@yahoo.com)
