Duncan Fletcher- On Indian Tides

Duncan Fletcher , the new coach of the Indian Cricket team is ready for his first assignment i.e. the "ignored" tour of West Indies. Well the title seems inspired by the latest pirates of the Carribean flick, indeed it is but coaching the cricket team of a nation like India can be a strange experience. Fletcher takes over the reins from the man who gave everything India wanted from the world cup to the no. 1 rank in test cricket i.e. Gary Kirsten. There are many challenges which Fletcher has in front of him to garner the respect and belief of Indian players and "more importantly" the Indian audience. First is the fact that Gary Kirsten has left the team in an envious position where India are world champs and no. 1 in tests. Now he is expected to help  sustain India as the world champions and win everything which comes their way. Next would be the fact that even though his first tour is the "less tough"West Indies one but almost all the senior players are either injured or have pulled out of the tour which leaves him with youngsters who can not be trusted for a victory on the tour. And if they do lose in West Indies, their world champions status would be in jeopardy creating further more trouble and pressure for Fletcher Also the Indian players must have developed the habit of training with the extremely fit 40 year old Kirsten who used to run with the players, throw balls to them for hours and devise new training methods with them. It is hard to think that the 62 year old Fletcher would be able to do that kind of physical work. And then he has the pressure of expectations of the billion indian fans who could either treat you like a god or on the same day turn you into a demon. (you can take the extreme cases of Kirsten and Chappell for instance) So it remains to be seen whether Fletcher becomes the next Kirsten for India or the next dreaded Chappell or the average John Wright.