Coaches and Contracts

By now it is known that that Chappell and Frazer are assisting the Aussies in the upcoming series, first by helping secure variety of facilities at the RCA for which he is the head coach, and then by providing tips about the Indian players. Frankly, I don't think the second issue will matter. Most players if astute, should know enough about each other (including the strengths and weaknesses) from the IPL days and having played each other so often. And maybe he will bring the same luck and success to the Aussie team that he had when he was the coach of India :)


However, I find a couple of issues baffling. Can you imagine a consultant at a subsidiary of Pepsi, taking up an assignment at Coca Cola to help develop a counter-strategy against Pepsi? His prior stint as the India's coach notwithstanding, as currently the head coach at RCA there does seem to be some direct conflict of interest. He is also the head coach of the Brisbane Cricket Academy and now the assistant coach for Australia. Shouldn't the BCCI ensure that contract of coaches, anticipates and deals with such issues before they become a problem?

Second is the issue of head coaches switching to other countries after their tenure. Again, while I cannot imagine Bill Gates working at Apple, I don't see how coaches can be prevented from taking up other assignments once a tenure is complete. But maybe a clause in their contract would atleast stop them from publishing a book after their tenure.

And lastly, Chappell's comment on Yuvi "I made him the player he is now". Considering Yuvraj's current test status and form against spin bowling, what is he taking credit for? If Yuvraj had learnt something from him, would it simply be "un-learnt" when a coach quits?

Hello There

It has been a month since my last post. What a busy, crazy month it has been from a work standpoint. If I was Dhoni, I would have taken a break from work (yes, it still rankles that he decided to skip a test series...)!

So what has happened in the past month in the sporting world.

Saina Nehwal won a second grand prix - congrats to her again.

Vijender was on the ramp somewhere.

Bindra has not been seen much in the ad world, I wonder why?

Federer won the US open through the only way it seemed possible this year - someone else beating Nadal.

Dhoni is supposed to have joined college: Not sure if he has attended any classes. Will all the guards also sit in the class from him to protect him from overzealous female classmates - has he given a new problem to his security staff :) Since he is already seems street savvy, does he need this? And how is he going to attend any classes at all (even a few) or study or give exams in his hectic schedule? However it may inspire some people to continue their education, so may be worthwhile nevertheless.


Saurav: Has been dropped from the rest of India team, but he refuses to retire. If there was a prize for determination/never-say-die attitude, I am sure he will win.

SRT: Is he fit or is he not fit? Does he know the answer, do the selectors know? What are they going to do to find out if he is match fit before re-inducting him...? Nothing?

Saw a short ad somewhere that Harbhajan, Sreesanth, Kambli, Pathan, Dinesh Karthik, and Nikhil Chopra are supposed to be a reality dance show starting soon. Now I am thinking of subscribing to that channel just to watch this. I think though this will provide some fodder for sledging by opponents :)

Hopefully, I will be able to start catching up on blogs again and posting more regularly now.

Congrats to Saina

As the sports minister met Saina Nehwal to congratulate her, he asked who Gopichand was? Correct me if I am wrong, but if you watched Saina's matches, you would have seen Gopichand as the coach. And as a sports minister, you may try to recollect that he has won a prestigious Badminton tournament less than 10 years ago, and is also the recipient of the nation's highest sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award. Given that we produce only one badminton great every decade, it should be easy to remember them?

PS: do you think Gill congratulated her for Bindra's gold or for her performance? just checking...

Repechage!

If you were a mostly ignorant sports fan like me, you would have searched for the meaning of this fancy sounding French word, right after Sushil Kumar's bronze medal. How can someone who lost in the first round get a medal --- Repechage provides a way. It means (re-fishing) or to be rescued. So a bronze medal was rescued for India :) However, this does not take away anything from Sushil Kumar who absolutely deserves this for coming through from nowhere with very poor training facilities. I wish we could have invoked repechage for tennis (mahesh-paes) for a bronze for them?

Then of course you have boxing where two bronze medals are allotted to the losing semifinalists (I am not complaining). Just checking to see if we can extend this to other sports. The reasoning behind this is that the losing semi-finalist could be sufficiently injured by a better opponent to prevent him from sparring again soon afterwards.

I congratulate...

Ever since hearing the sports minister's "congratulating all including himself" comment, I have been trying to find a reason to congratulate myself for playing any direct part in the success of our athletes. But can I be congratulated for

• Finding out about our Olympic athletes once every 4 years and forgetting about them immediately afterwards?
• Not having seen any national championships even on television
• Having only seen tennis and cricket in the stadium
• No idea about the academies available for the sportspeople
• Being more aware of the NBA players, the Bolts of the world, Victoria Beckham, and Jolie's children than our athletes?
  
• Not being aware of the actual issues faced by them and even if aware, not doing anything about fixing the problems.

But wait, I can be congratulated for Vijender Kumar's victory. Since the other 2 boxers lost, I made sure I went back to the same lucky location to watch his bout and it worked :) My family has already poked holes in this theory, so all I will tell Mr. Gill, is I am not worthy of congrats for doing nothing.

That brings me to You (the fellow Indian readers of this blog): If you have played a part, do post it in the comments and accept my congrats :)

Lastly it brings me to the sports minister and other officials. I am sure they must have played some part, though it is not clear what policy they have modified to make this turn around or their plan ahead. And if they are so willing to share the glory of the athletes, I am sure they must be equally willing to share the blame and take the main responsibility for say, the less than stellar performance of the track and field athletes or for sending a small contingent? Ah, but the blue moon will be more likely.