The role of a coach is not given great importance in cricket as compared to a sport like Football. It gets highlighted only when the results achieved are dramatic. The coach’s role is a thankless job. People applaud the team when they win and blame the coach when things spiral. There have been several cricketing coaches who have done exceedingly well. They not only brought in great results but transformed the teams completely.
We look at 5 Cricket Coaches Who Completely Transformed Teams:
#5 Brendon McCullum (2022-present)
England looked down and out in the longest format of the game. Owing to the excessive importance attached to the white ball side, England couldn’t really come to terms with the red ball format. They kept faltering as a side especially post the retirements of Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook. England kept winning an odd series owing to individual brilliance. But the steep was noticeable.
In an inspired selection of head coach, ECB appointed Brendon McCullum as England’s Test head coach. The ultra-aggressive McCullum asked the team to go hell for leather. In captain Ben Stokes, he has found an able ally. England has four out of four Tests they have played so far albeit all at home. But there has been a drastic change in the mindset of the players. It is here where McCullum has already succeeded as a coach.
#4 Ravi Shastri (2014-16, 2017-21)
He might not be someone who found universal acceptance as a coach. But Ravi Shastri was a highly effective coach. The naysayers will quickly point out the ICC knockout games that the team lost, but there is more to Shastri than just the misses. India became a world-beating side during the tenure of Virat Kohli-Ravi Shastri. The move to develop a pool of fast bowlers has already paid rich dividends.
India now has so much talent depth that around 35-40 players can any day turn up for the side. The whitewashes in Sri Lanka and West Indies, and twin series wins in Australia are the major highlights of his tenure. India’s home record reach insurmountable levels during his tenure. For a side that was ranked seventh in Tests, India went to finish as the number 1 team for 5 successive years! If this isn’t transformation, we aren’t sure what is.
#3 Andy Flower – England (2009-14)
England wasn’t considered a strong cricketing nation until 2009. The side had won nothing to negate the fact. But the side underwent a massive transformation when Andy Flower took over as head coach. England started travelling well. They won their first world title in 2010 (T20 World Cup). Team culture became a big part of English sport. Their gradual rise resulted in England becoming the top-ranked Test team in August 2011. English cricket credits a lot of this success to Andy Flower and rightly so.
#2 John Wright (2000-05)
The Indian cricket team was a star-driven team with individual acclaim being the foremost objective. It took a certain John Wright to put things in place. India slowly started winning consistently across Tests and ODIs. The team started registering wins overseas. India was no longer pushovers in any format, any condition.
The peak of the Fab Four coincided with the John Wright win. India’s overseas wins were brave efforts. They levelled the series in England and Australia. Natwest series win in 2002 was another feather in the cap for Wright. But the epic come-from-behind series win in 2001 against world dominating Aussies was Wright’s brightest moment as a coach. He instilled the belief in the team that they can compete with the best in the world.
#1 Gary Kirsten (2008-11)
India had to suffer the ignominy of a first-round exit in the 2007 ODI World Cup. The immediate success in T20 World Cup 2007 did heal a few wounds. India though was looking for a coach who could do the W(right) thing for the team. Gary Kirsten was appointed as the head coach. He took over the reins in March 2008. India started coming into their own.
They hardly dropped a series during Kirsten’s era. India drew a series in South Africa for the first and only time so far. They won in New Zealand. India started their stay at the top of the Test rankings in 2009. But the crowning glory of his coaching tenure was India winning the World Cup in 2011 at home. It was a fitting finale to what was a chequered coaching career with the Indian team.
