Indian cricket team suffered back-to-back two heartbreaks in two editions of the T20 World Cup as they could not end the long wait for a second title. While India bowed out in the group stage of the 2021 T20 World Cup, the Men in Blue lost to England by ten wickets in the semifinals of the 2022 T20 World Cup. These two defeats came under different captain-coach duos.
In 2021, Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri were at the helm of affairs while Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid were looking after the team in 2022. The pair was supposed to overturn the results from the last edition and take India home but it did not happen and thus the calls for an overhaul in the T20 setup got louder.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) responded well as they smartly removed Rohit Sharma from T20Is saying he and other senior members of the team (Virat Kohli and KL Rahul) will be focusing on ODIs and Tests with two big tournaments (WTC Final and ODI WC) lined up. Hardik Pandya succeeded Sharma as the captain in T20Is. However, Rahul Dravid retained his place as the head coach.
This decision did not sit too well with Harbhajan Singh who has once again echoed the thoughts of having a different coach for T20Is. Singh has once again said that BCCI should bring in someone who understands the concept of T20s and what the game demands.
“Yes, you have two captains, so you can have two coaches. Why not? Someone whose planning is different. Like England has done with Brendon McCullum. Someone like Virender Sehwag or Ashish Nehra who worked with Gujarat Titans and Hardik Pandya won his first tournament (IPL) as captain. So, bring someone who understands the concept of T20 and demands of the game,” said Harbhajan to Indian Express.
The former India spinner also suggested a couple of names who can succeed Rahul Dravid as the head coach in the shortest format.
“The coach knows that focus is on T20 cricket. Say if Ashish Nehra is the T20 coach, then he knows that his job is to make the Indian team champions in the T20 format, and Rahul Dravid knows he has to work on how the Indian team can be No.1 in Tests and ODIs,” he added.