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Marsh the man for India Former Aussie guru best choice for coaching job
India has several candidates as it searches for a new cricket coach, but should look no further than former Australian guru Geoff Marsh. Marsh has the inner strength and experience to lead India into a new, prosperous era after the resignation of Kapil Dev in the wake of investigations into match-fixing allegations. The scandal also saw the omission of former captains Mohammad Azharrudin and Ajay Jadeja for the ICC Knockout Trophy in Kenya, giving the Indian squad a distinctively young look. It’s likely that India will be in a rebuilding phase for the next several years and could benefit from the guidance of Marsh. The 42-year-old was instrumental in Australia’s rise from minnows to the top of world cricket. First as a dour opening batsman, then as team manager and finally as team coach. At the end of his 50-test career in 1992, Marsh made a seamless transition into a behind-the-scenes role with Australia. And he took the Aussies to a new level once he took over from Bob Simpson as coach in 1996, helping them to the 1999 World Cup as well as Test series wins in South Africa (1997) and Pakistan (1998). Like Simpson, Marsh put a strong emphasis on building team spirit and improving the skills of his teams in the field, which the talented yet divided India could greatly benefit from. How often have we seen India miss opportunities in big games because of dropped catches or sloppy ground fielding? With gifted batsmen like captain Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid and bowling weapons like Anil Kumble and Venkatesh Prasad, India should be a far greater force in international cricket than it currently is. But for so long, the Indians have been dogged by apparent indiscipline, inconsistency and poor away form and are now coping with a match-fixing scandal which is only beginning to unfold. Kapil Dev was the biggest name in Indian cricket, but in reality, probably wasn’t the best choice as coach, especially in light of the damaging allegations which dominated his final months in charge. Anshuman Gaekwad has the caretaker role as coach before Indian officials make their decision at the end of October. The three other candidates for the job are former New Zealand opening batsman John Wright , ex-West Indies paceman Andy Roberts and another Australian Dean Jones, who probably played some memorable innings on the subcontinent. But Marsh outstrips them all. He has the best credentials and is low-key, stable and knowledgeable. If he can put up with the infamous politics of the Indian game, he could achieve success with one of the sleeping giants of world cricket. Australian-born Jason Dasey is an anchor for World Sport, a 30-minute sports highlights and news program shown on CNN International and CNN/Sports Illustrated.
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