By IANS,
Mumbai : Former India captain Sunil Gavasakar feels that his old team mate Mohinder Amarnath would have been the ideal replacement for Gary Kirsten for the job of India’s cricket coach.
“Amarnath for the simple reason, that the core of the Indian team is from the Hindi belt. So it would have been a lot easier for him to gel and interact with the team and the seniors. It doesn’t mean that he would not have been able to gel with the other members,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying by NDTV.
Gavaskar and Amarnath were part of the 1983 World Cup winning side and Amarnath was Man of the Series in the tournament as well.
Gavaskar said that Amarnath was known for making successful comebacks after being dropped from the side on many occasions and the experience would have helped him in coaching the Indian team.
“Jimmy (Amarnath) has got a fabulous record of making comebacks. He knows what it is to be down and how to comeback from there.”
Gavaskar, referring to the general notion that an Indian coach could be dragged into the politics of the game, said it would be ‘presuming’ that an Indian is not a strong person to deal with it.
“There is a perception that an Indian coach can be influenced or he can get involved in the politics which is there. But that is presuming that an Indian cannot be a strong person. Haven’t we seen in the past that overseas guys, if not indulging in politics, are a little partial to the people of their region,” he added.