‘Bring someone like Sehwag or Nehra’: Veteran spinner suggests India to have separate coach for T20Is

For years, there has been debate surrounding the concept of split coaching and captaincy in the Indian cricket team. Following India’s dismal performance in the 2021 T20 World Cup, several veteran cricketers called for a specialist white-ball skipper, leading to Virat Kohli eventually relinquishing his captaincy role across formats. Subsequently, there were also calls for a specialist coach for the T20 side, with former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh being one of the few to back the idea of split coaching. He even made a bold statement about the current head coach, Rahul Dravid.

At an Idea Exchange session of The Indian Express, Harbhajan Singh used the England cricket team as an example to illustrate his point. He believes that someone like Virender Sehwag or Ashish Nehra should be appointed to mentor the T20 side, as India requires a coach who is well-versed in the nuances of T20 cricket and the demands of the game.

“Yes, you have two captains, so you can have two coaches. Why not? Someone whose planning is different. Like England has done with Brendon McCullum. Someone like Virender Sehwag or Ashish Nehra who worked with Gujarat Titans and Hardik Pandya won his first tournament (IPL) as captain. So, bring someone who understands the concept of T20 and demands of the game.

“The coach knows that focus is on T20 cricket. Say if Ashish Nehra is the T20 coach, then he knows that his job is to make the Indian team champions in the T20 format, and Rahul Dravid knows he has to work on how the Indian team can be No.1 in Tests and ODIs,” Harbhajan said.

Harbhajan Singh has implored the Indian cricket team to demonstrate greater ambition as they prepare for the 2023 ODI World Cup, which will be hosted in India later this year. With the tournament taking place on home soil, the team will have the opportunity to make history and bring the trophy back to the nation.

“I think we need to show a little more intent. If you are playing T20s then you can’t play it like a one-day match. If you are playing one-day, you can’t play it like a Test match. We can’t be dependent on two-three players to win you the championship. When you have a World Cup in front of you, you need eight to nine guys performing at the same time. One or two players can win you matches, but it is the team which can win you the tournament,” he said.

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