Australia is touring India for a four test series with the first match being played in Chennai. This is the last series for Duncan Fletcher as the Indian coach. He started with the position on 27th April 2011 after India was riding high on the WC 2011 triumph. However the next two years have not been that pleasing. BCCI has announced that it will not extend the tenure of Duncan Fletcher. BCCI is on the lookout for a new coach and Sourav Ganguly is among the probables.
Fletcher has proved to be a shy coach, preferring a behind the scene and very dormant approach. He has not succeeded in continuing with the energy and charisma that Kirsten had enthused in the Indian cricket team.
Under Fletcher India just won 6 tests out of the 20 it played and lost 10. If we compare the same to the tenure of Kirsten, India won 16 tests out of the 33 test matches played and lost just 6. The following graphs show the break-up of the results of test matches played under the tenure of Kirsten and Fletcher.
Gary Kirsten has the best test record for an Indian coach till date. Kirsten coached team India from 1 March 2008 – April 2011. Kirsten took India to WC victory, ODI No. 2 rating, Test No. 1 rating. Indian captain M.S. Dhoni once described him as “The best thing to happen to Indian cricket.”
If we look at the ODI stats, India won 25 and lost 16 out of the 44 matches it played under Fletcher; a Win/Loss ratio of 1.56
However under the tenure of Kirsten, India played 59 matches and lost 29 out of a total of 93 matches; a Win/Loss ratio of 2.03
The record for T20’s is the same for the both the coaches. India won 9 games each under each coach. India played 17 T20’s under Fletcher and 18 under Kirsten.
Team India sorely misses the dynamic presence of Kirsten. Hoping the next coach can bring back enthusiasm in the team and lead team India to greater heights.