By IANS,
New Delhi : For someone who has been closely associated with India, Steve Waugh surely knows how cricket is run here. And the Australian legend Friday felt his former coach John Buchanan could have had a mix of India and Australian support staff for a better working arrangement in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Commenting on Buchanan’s exit as cricket director of Kolkata Knight Riders after the team’s poor showing in the first two IPL editions, the former Australian captain said: “The demand of coaching is very different in India from that of Australia. I think Buchanan should have mixed his Australian and Indian support staff, that way it would have been easier,” Waugh said.
Waugh, whose name is doing the rounds as Knight Rider’s next coach, said coaching is not his priority at the moment.
“My focus right now is Steve Waugh Foundation, which is keeping me quite busy. I am not ready for any coaching assignment now,” he said.
Asked about Australia’s chances in upcoming Ashes in England, Waugh said: “I think Australia have a good chance. England, of course, will go with two spinners as the track for the first Test in Cardiff is likely to be a turner.
“But Australia, even though they no longer carry an aura of invincibility, are as good as any team in the world. But the fact they no longer are a dominant force in world cricket is in a way good, because it gives confidence to other teams that they can beat Australia. And let us not forget their performance in South Africa.”
Waugh, said even though his busy schedule does not allow him to watch a lot of cricket, he managed to catch up with a couple of matches of the IPL and the ongoing World Twenty20.
“I think IPL is a fantastic format. I also watched the World Twenty20 semi-final between
South Africa and Pakistan. Even though Twenty20 is fast, there is an interactive element, as if you are part of it.”