Balwinder Singh Sandhu is one of those players who has established himself as a respected coach after retirement. The former Mumbai and India medium-pacer, who played a silent but significant role in India's World Cup triumph in England in 1983, is very knowledgeable about cricket and its finer points, but minces no words when it comes to expressing his views, as Haresh Pandya discovered during a freewheeling conversation recently.
Now that the World Cup is over, what are your suggestions for those who run Indian cricket?
Well, we should look forward to the next World Cup even if it is four years from now. The idea is to do proper planning from World Cup to World Cup. Everything should be on paper; the process has to be put on paper. Even if you want to take the path, the process, etc. that Greg Chappell started, you have to make it clear.
How do you assess Chappell's contribution to Indian cricket?
We are not able to make out whether he was successful or flopped regardless of the processes he had. He talked big and used his customary jargon. He asked for youngsters and they were there. And not all the youngsters were successful. At the same time, not all the senior players were successful either.
Did the team, as a whole, or certain individual players fail him?
In a team sport like cricket, every player has to contribute his bit. It does not matter whether you are a highly experienced player, playing your first season in international cricket or even making your maiden appearance. Every member of the team has to perform regardless of his status. Cricket is not known to be lenient with even a player who is playing international cricket for fifteen years or so. Nor does it spare younger cricketers either. Cricket treats everybody equally. Every player is same on the field. And each player has to perform.
But there are always greater expectations of experienced players, aren't there?
Of course, there are. They have to take more burdens and shoulder extra responsibilities because they have played many matches in comparison with inexperienced players. Senior players should share their vast experience and knowledge with the younger lot. Coaches can teach only theories to the youngsters but senior players can advise and guide them on the field in many ways. What the youngsters can learn from the experienced players is much better than what they can from their coaches, who work with them in the nets only. Actual matches provide the right platform for performing as well as learning.
Is it possible to have the Australian type of ruthless professionalism in Indian cricket?
It is. But it is very, very difficult. Australians' life is more outdoors. They are natural athletes and conducive to running and training vigorously. They have a fitness culture in Australia. We hardly have any in India. A player has to be fitness-conscious and the process has to start at a very young age. The NCA [National Cricket Academy] has been doing a good job for budding cricketers. But even the NCA has a long way to go.
Don't you think many Indian players appear to lack the mental toughness?
Yes. Besides being fit, you have to be mentally tough, too. There has to be a discipline of mind and this has to be instilled in a youngster when he is in his mid teens. Once a player develops a discipline of mind, he will be much better than what he is. Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar did not become mentally tough by playing at international level. They were mentally strong even at the age of 15 or so. You cannot teach the mental toughness to a guy who is 30 years old. He is already matured and is supposed to be strong mentally. You have to teach the mental toughness to a player when he is very young. But most coaches in India do not do this.
Do you think Team India really needs a foreign coach?
I am not against foreign coaches. However, I want foreign coaches not to coach Indian cricketers, but to train Indian coaches.
You sound sarcastic
No, I am serious.
How do you view Indian coaches?
We have more than ten coaches in India today who can do the national duty. They can always do well. If not better than Chappell, they can do at least what he did during his tenure with Team India. We Indian coaches know our boys better than these foreigners know them. Maybe, in the past the players had problems with Indian coaches, but today we have highly trained professional Indian coaches.
And how do you view foreign coaches with regard to Indian cricket?
I would like foreign coaches to come to India and coach our domestic teams. I would like to see how successful they are at training the Indian youngsters at the domestic level. It is more difficult to coach a state team than the Indian side. Coaching the Indian team is not so difficult because the players know most things, having played international cricket after graduating from the domestic level. But you have to do everything at the domestic level.
Is it a healthy trend to have separate bowling and fielding coaches in addition to the chief coach?
Well, in any team, the chief coach is not an all-round coach. So specialist bowling, batting and fielding coaches come handy. In our days, when there was no money to speak of in Indian cricket, we had only the manager and no coach. So the players would help one another to grow together. The idea was to improve together, develop together. But now that there is huge money in cricket, you have competitors within the team.
How? Could you elaborate?
I mean you have a set of best players within the team. They are good in their respective disciplines to pass on their knowledge and expertise to others. This is what we used to do. But because of a lot of money, you have become my competitor and I am yours, for instance. So why should I share my knowledge with you? Hence, the importance of a coach in a team. It is the duty and responsibility of the coach and captain to make the team work together and turn it into a well-knit unit, like a family.
