Former Indian cricketer, Gautam Gambhir has warned about the detrimental effects of hiring foreign coaches for the Indian Cricket Team. Citing the example of Lalchand Rajput, Gambhir said that Indian coaches have proved themselves in the past, adding that foreign coaches can spoil Indian cricket.
“Yes, we don’t want and need foreign coaches for our team, they can spoil your cricket and team. What’s wrong with Indian coaches? What have they done wrong? We won the 2007 T20 World Cup under the coaching of Lalchand Rajput,” said the former Indian opener.
Gambhir also recalled India’s victory in the tri-series involving Australia and Sri Lanka in 2007/08, which was also achieved with Rajput as a coach.
“We also won the CB series first time in Australia with the same coach but what we remember is the 2011 World Cup victory and coach Garry Kirsten,” he said.
Former Kolkata skipper went on to question the performance of previous foreign coaches, saying,
“What special work was done by Duncan Fletcher and Johnn Wright? We have to show trust in our local players and coaches.”
Gambhir, who was instrumental in India’s World Cup triumphs in 2007 and 2011, also highlighted the contribution of the bowlers during those tournaments.
“Why should we always remember players who scored 97 and 91 in the World Cup final? Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh played crucial roles in the Indian victory and their effort was equal to that of batsmen, so we have to remember them too,” said Gambhir, who himself served as mentor for the Lucknow Super Giants in the last season of the IPL.
