Wednesday, 5 March 2008

Is Kepler Wessels the right coach for Chennai Super Kings?

Do you think Kepler Wessels was the right choice for Chennai Super Kings?
Especially considering the fact that Robin Singh, a Chennai-ite was poached by Hyderabad team.

V.B. Chandrasekhar in Hindu, reasons out the logic for the selection of Kepler Wessels

"We wanted somebody who would keep the focus on cricket, be a good task master, and help us win the tournament,"

Interestingly, Hindu mentions that V.B. Chandrasekhar would be the Assistant Coach of the team. An interesting and a good move considering the fact that it was Chandrasekhar who handpicked most of the team and Chandrasekhar's intimate knowledge of Indian conditions. Hindu also reports that four internationals were considered for the job of Coach. (Richard Pybus, who worked with the Pakistan national team, narrowly missed the opportunity because of his commitments in South Africa).

Kepler Wessels:

Kepler Wessels, South Africa's first Test captain of the modern era and the first man to have played ODI for two countries is surely an attractive candidate for Chennai Super Kings team. He brings a few strengths like his grit, determination, a single minded focus on winning, etc. that sets him apart from the rest. Many experts credit his toughness and fitness strategy for helping South Africa ease into World Cup - 92. He could be expected to do the same for Chennai Super Kings too, especially with regard to Under-22 players who don't have these exposure in the domestic arena. Even Wessels had underlined the same issue in his phone interview with PTI that his focus would be on the younger talent of Chennai Super Kings.

An opener who was know for his grit and determination in his career, he could be expected to inspire a "Never Give Up" approach among the players. But the clinching fact for his appointment is his 100% attention to Chennai Super Kings since he does not have any other major coaching assignments.

But on the negative side, Kepler Wessels has always been chided as an conservative player by his critics. So we could expect Chennai Super Kings to concentrate on winning rather than on entertaining the crowd with sixes and fours. His lack of international coaching experience is also a sore point.

Kepler Wessels is surely a good choice for the coach of Chennai Super Kings. But is he better than Robin Singh?. For that, we would have to wait for the matches to begin.

2 comments:

Viswanathan said...

Robin,
Wessels will be a better coach than your namesake.:0

Indian coaches as a rule can detect and rectify a fault. Their grasp of tactics and strategy leaves a lot to be desired.

Robin said...

@ Ottayan,
Accept the fact that foreign coaches are generally more professional than Indian Coaches... Since Robin Singh resides in Chennai, it adds an attractiveness to his candidature for Coach.. Also Wessels lack experience that proves his mettle as a coach..

So the only way is wait and see how both of them are performing in IPL..