Legendary Australian spinner Shane Warne was effusive in praise for India’s head coach. Rahul Dravid, who replaced Ravi Shastri last year, started his coaching stint at the national team with T20I and Test series wins over New Zealand at home, but returned disappointed from his first away tour – in South Africa, where India lost the Test series 2-1 and were whitewashed 3-0 in the ODIs.
Shane Warne, though, backs Dravid to add more “steel” and “toughness” in the national team. Warne is known for sharing his views in the most unfiltered and honest way and he did exactly same while talking about India’s newly appointed head-coach Rahul Dravid.
“Rahul Dravid will bring in a lot to the table. Terrific cricketer, great person. I think he will bring in a lot of steel, lot of toughness to the group. I think he will bring in a lot of tactical stuff that will be good. Rahul is fantastic for Indian cricket,” Shane Warne told PTI in an interview organized by ‘BookMyShow’.
Shane Warne further explained why he doesn’t like the terminology “coach” in international cricket, and reckons it should be replaced with “manager”.
He asserted that a coach teaches the technical aspects to a player at the domestic level. But, at the international level, he opined, the job is more about managing players.
“The coach, it is the terminology which I don’t like in international cricket. In domestic cricket, the coaches are really important, but in international cricket, he should be called a manager not a coach.
“Getting front-elbow up and coaching them like kids isn’t what is required at international level. You do that for kids at age-group level, first-class level, where you are taught how to play the game and coached to get ready for international cricket. At the highest level, the emphasis is on the mental and tactical side of the game and that’s not the job of a conventional coach,” the spin wizard elaborated.
Shane Warne reiterated that the role of a coach – or a manager as he’d say – at the highest level is to prepare players mentally for the challenges of international cricket.
Shane Warne added: “It’s about mental side and tactical side and that’s where man management comes in. By the time you go international cricket, you know how to play. Sometimes you just forget how to play and make things too complicated and that’s why you don’t get coached at international level. You are managed. Does that make sense?”
Dravid’s next challenge is the home season when India host against West Indies and Sri Lanka across all formats.
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