With the IPL coming to a close, all the focus will now shift to the World Cup. As such, there are growing concerns with the involvement of overseas coaches as it could lead to plenty of know-how about several of the marquee Indian players.
For instance, Ricky Ponting, who is the coach of the Delhi Capitals, will also be the assistant coach for Australia and hence, there are concerns over him nullifying the Shikhar Dhawan impact.
"Imagine the extent to which they understand Dhawan the cricket. What clicks for him... what doesn't... It's clearly unhealthy. Rishabh, Prithvi, Shreyas – see the amount of analysis they're being able to gather," Times of India quoted Team India's take on the matter.
South Africa's Chennai-based analyst Prasanna Agoram is with KXIP
Also, Cricket South Africa's Chennai-based analyst Prasanna Agoram, who has been with the South African team for a very long time is working with the Kings XI Punjab and hence, will know all about KL Rahul and Mohammed Shami, two of India's critical players in the World Cup.
"The amount of work Prasanna has put in with the South African national team is tremendous. We got to know about it first hand when we visited South Africa last year. Now, this guy gets to spend two months right here in the Indian domestic circuit just weeks before he'll accompany South Africa to the World Cup. This just doesn't sound correct," some members of the Indian cricket team had to say.
As per a TOI report, there are concerns with the involvement of overseas coaches and analysts with the Indian team, that too so close to a World event where strategies and tactics will be very crucial. It adds that although the IPL is a free market, a line has to be drawn.
Also, it states that a number of junior cricketers have expressed surprise over the fact that while Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, and VVS Laxman have been slapped with a conflict of interest notice, the likes of Ricky Ponting, who are directly involved with the Australian national team continue to get a free hand.
"If players like Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly and Laxman are not associated with IPL, whose loss is it? Look at Pravin Amre. He's one of India's finest batting coaches. Just because he wants to keep his IPL job, he can't work with any other state team or NCA. But Tom Moody can coach Sunrisers and head the Caribbean Premier League too," the players added.
