Prince set to inherit a crown of thorns

Having experimented with foreign coaches, some successful and some not so successful, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) must be contemplating to give the job to a former India star. Saurav Ganguly will be the ideal choice. Ever since Jagmohan Dalmiya had taken over the reins of the BCCI, Ganguly was sure to get a prime post in the richest sports association in the country Valentine Wilson

Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown! So goes the saying. The scenario gets even worse if the person has to wear a crown of thorns! For instance the jobs of the Indian cricket team captain and coach are no pieces of cake. Now that the Indian team has been selected, the decision on the coach will be done in a few days.

Having experimented with foreign coaches, some successful and some not so successful, the Board of Control for cricket in India (BCCI) must be contemplating to give the job to a former India star. Saurav Ganguly will be the ideal choice. Ever since Jagmohan Dalmiya had taken over the reins of the BCCI, Ganguly was sure to get a prime post in the richest sports association in the country. Though Ganguly would like to concentrate on his duties with his State Association, a head coach or team director's or high performance director's post would indeed be a tempting one. Speculation is rife.

The name of the Prince of Kolkata is doing the rounds. He along with Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar were actually given the responsibility to choose the coach, after Duncan Fletcher's term ended. Justin Langer, one of the contenders for the job has ruled himself out of the race. He is not even keen on any England job. The other contender is Zimbabwean Andy Flower. He has been with the English side, but will he fit in the Indian scheme of things is to be seen.

Ganguly has already found support for his candidature. Sunil Gavaskar is one of them. He feels Ganguly has all the attributes of a head coach. In his case, all the negative points-whether he is qualified, which level course has he passed, does he have any hand-on coaching experience will all be brushed aside. The positives weigh very much in his favour. India play most of the upcoming series at home after the Bangladesh tour and if he follows Ajit Wadekar's formula of using a three-pronged spin attack and with tailor-made spinner-friendly tracks, India can call the shots, all over again.

Another factor that favours Ganguly is that he was the first captain to instill an aggressive streak in the team. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth was his philosophy. His twirling of his shirt from the balcony at Lord's evoked a lot of criticism though. For the brat pack, it was acceptable for this show of indecency, but for the purist it was something to hang their heads in shame. Whatever, the whole country had gone ga ga over the incident, which Ganguly himself later said he was not proud about.

Ganguly as captain must have had a big say in selection matters, which helped in prolonging the careers of several players. As a coach too, he is sure to encourage a positive aggressive line. If the mantle falls on Ganguly, we can all say, ‘Yehi, hai right choice baby, aha!!’ Crown of thorns or no, he will take it and he will do a good job of it. Just to divert a little bit. The Indian team for Bangladesh had a surprise with the inclusion of Harbhajan Singh. Here while Ganguly backed the "turbanator", legendary spinner Bishen Singh Bedi had called this move a "backward step".

Harbhajan has been included mainly because he still has a few years to offer and his experience should come in good stead. There is one school of thought that this tour should have been used to groom the next line of players. But with Bangladesh doing well against Pakistan, surely the selectors don’t want to take any risks. The main factor, however, is that the Bangla team has many lefthanders and an experienced bowler like Harbhajan will be ideal.He will need to justify his place and shown that he still has that magic in his spinning fingers.

Harbhajan is definitely a better bowler than Ravindra Jadeja. With R Ashwin he should form a deadly combination. The off-spinner has been bowling a lot slower in the air, unlike earlier years when he was quicker, giving the batsmen time to play their strokes. Karn Sharma should provide variety with his leg-spin. Virat Kohli's captaincy will be closely watched, what with Rohit Sharma closely waiting in the wings.