With everyone scampering around trying to hold someone responsible for India’s dismal bowling performance against Sri Lanka in the first match of the Bangladesh tri-series, it looked like that some heads were going to roll. Amidst all this confusion, the voice of Indian skipper M.S.Dhoni almost went unnoticed. Right after the humiliating defeat, Dhoni dispelled all the speculation. He said that it was just too much to expect Gary Kirsten to look after all the aspects of the game and the team needed specialist bowling and fielding coaches.

With the previous bowling and fielding coaches Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh losing their positions after a certain World Cup fiasco, the slots remained empty. Coaching the Indian cricket team has its own perils, something one Mr Greg Chappell can ascertain. It is the coach who takes the heat after the team messes things up. He is held accountable for a loss and looked over in times of victory.

The other thing that has become typically Indian of late is the obsession for anything foreign. We don’t bat an eye lid to import coaches even when there are good, seasoned candidates at home. There must be someone with the weird thinking in the board that our men in blue, under a foreign coach, is a certain value addition to the brand image. It is always forgotten that the coach cannot actually be a part of the playing eleven and win matches.

For example, our bowling has improved by leaps and bounds in the last two one-dayers. Zaheer Khan, Tyagi and Sreesanth have delivered when it mattered most. Should this be attributed to the coach or the bowler who bowled his heart out and his team to victory?

While we are happy that Eric Simmons has become Indian team’s temporary bowling coach and the results might be worth it pretty soon, it might just be a case of too-little, too-late.