New Delhi:

A team like India, which doesn’t have players competing round the year in T20 leagues across the globe, doesn’t need two separate coaches for the limited overs and Test format, feels former England spinner Graeme Swann. The BCCI has invited fresh applications for the head coach position, with a deadline set for May 27 as Rahul Dravid is unlikely to continue after the T20 World Cup. “For a nation like India, because of the IPL and the fact the players don’t play other leagues, people are based in India whole year round. You don’t need split (separate) coaches,” Swann replied to a PTI at the launch of the Legends Intercontinental T20 league here on Thursday.

Former India opener Gautam Gambhir, who is currently with the Kolkata Knight Riders as team mentor, has emerged as the front runner to succeed Dravid as the likes of reputed overseas coaches like Australians Ricky Ponting and Justin Langer and Zimbabwean Andy Flower have ruled themselves out of contention.

England have adopted split coaching with Brendon McCullum serving as the red-ball coach while Matthew Mott presides over white-ball formats.

South Africa (Shukri Conrad and Rob Walter) and Pakistan (Gary Kirsten and Jason Gillespie) also have separate coaches for limited overs and red ball cricket.

“In England, we have three teams that go all around the world cause our summer is in a different time, that’s one of the main reasons that split coaches in England. You don’t need it in India,” the 45-year off spinner, who has played 60 Tests, 79 ODIs, and 39 T20Is for England between 2000-2013.

“A good coach is a good coach, he’s the right man for all three forms so be it. If the guy is specialist in white ball cricket and he’s available then you can use him,” Swann added.

But BCCI secretary Jay Shah has already ruled out the possibility of having different coaches for red and white ball formats.

India doesn’t need overseas coaches: Parthiv

Former wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel believes that India boasts an abundance of talented coaches and sees no need to look beyond its borders for a new head coach.

“There are a lot of coaches from NCA that have joined Indian team, I don’t see the need for overseas coaches,” Parthiv said.

“India has so many capable coaches. Every other year our U-19 team wins the World Cup, India A team does well on overseas tours. They are coached by Indians so why do we need outside coaches? Chandrakant Pandit is a huge example,” he added.

National Cricket Academy (NCA) head VVS Laxman has been regularly stepping in for Dravid and “We have seen when Rahul Bhai is coach, Laxman bhai filling in for him. Though it’s not just the two coaches as there are other NCA coaches,” Parthiv said.

Former England off-break spinner Graeme Swann picked his top four teams for the highly anticipated T20 World Cup, which is just more than a week away from kicking off in the USA. England will arrive in the West Indies and the USA to defend their crown in a tournament that is already in the history books before its commencement. Since the inception of the tournament, this will be the first time the marquee event will feature 20 teams who will fight for World Cup glory. Swann believes that the four teams that would make their way into the final four would be England, India, the West Indies, and, “unfortunately,” England’s arch-rival Australia. He chose West Indies, ahead of the likes of Pakistan, South Africa, and New Zealand.

“The top four teams I would go for are India and England, and then Australia, unfortunately, and then the West Indies,” Swann told ANI.

In seven months, England will once again step out to defend their crown after their quest went down the slump last year.

During their ODI World Cup title defence in India, England lived through a nightmare. The Three Lions were chasing the shadows of the 2019 winning team throughout the tournament.

They failed to qualify for the knockout stages and ended up in the seventh spot with just six points in nine games. But Swann is optimistic about England’s chances of defending their crown in the upcoming edition. The former spinner feels that even though the tag of defending champions is hard to carry, England have a strong squad to rise to the challenge.

“I hope so. Yeah, the last time they won, they played pretty good cricket in Australia. It is a different country to go to, the USA and the West Indies. Different forms of cricket. The pitches are nowhere near as hard and bouncy. So I hope they do well. Defending champions is sometimes a hard tag to carry. Looking at the team, I think they are very strong,” Swann added.

The tournament will begin on June 1, with the United States and Canada playing the opener.

England’s T20 World Cup defence will begin against Scotland on June 4 at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. They will then play group matches against Australia, Oman, and Namibia in Barbados and Antigua before the Super 8s and knockouts.

Former England spinner Graeme Swann has backed India’s decision to take four spinners for the upcoming T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies. India took a lot of people by surprise by picking four spinners during their announcement for the 15-player squad of the upcoming marquee event, kicking off on June 1. During the press conference earlier this month, India skipper Rohit Sharma revealed that he wanted four spinners in the squad for the highly-anticipated tournament. Some sections of fans and former cricketers have questioned India’s decision to take four spinners for the tournament. But Swann believes that India made the right call of picking four spinners in their 15-player squad. “I think taking four spinners is absolutely the way to go in the Caribbean, and I think you should never question that,” Swann told ANI.

Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh had questioned India’s decision as he feels that four spinners are a “bit too much”.

“I think selecting four spinners is a bit too much. Three would have been enough. I do not think we will ever play four spinners in a game. Ravindra Jadeja will play. Maybe Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal will play with him. Maybe we will field three spinners in a game. We will get to know the combo on seeing the conditions,” Harbhajan told ANI earlier this week.

India named four spinners in the squad, consisting of Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, and Yuzvendra Chahal.

Rohit has played his cards close to the chest and didn’t reveal the reason behind the decision.

“I definitely wanted four spinners we have played a lot of cricket there, there is a technical aspect involved in it. There is a reason for four spinners which I am not going to say now but I wanted four spinners for sure and three seamers and Hardik being fourth,” Rohit said in a press conference earlier this month.

Notably, despite having four spinners in the squad, India still doesn’t possess an off-spinner in their talented pool of players.

Washington Sundar and Ravichandran Ashwin were the two available options to pick from the off-spin department. But India decided to go against the option due to both players lacking game time.

The Men in Blue will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against Ireland on June 5, at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York, followed by the marquee clash against Pakistan on June 09 at the same venue. India will then play against the USA and Canada on June 12 and 15 respectively.

India Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Hardik Pandya (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (Wk), Sanju Samson (Wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj.

New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner (L) leaves the field as England’s Moeen Ali (3R) celebrates taking his wicket during the second ODI at The Ageas Bowl in Southampton, England on September 10, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AFP

England all-rounder Moeen Ali completed 100 wickets in ODI cricket on Sunday, becoming the only third spinner from the country to do so. 

Moeen reached this milestone during England’s second ODI against New Zealand at Southampton. During the match, the spinner bowled well, taking 2/30 in five overs at a decent economy rate of 6.00. He took the crucial wickets of in-form all-rounder Daryl Mitchell and Mitchell Santner. 

Moeen also contributed 33 runs off 32 balls with his bat, smacking three boundaries and a six. Now in 130 ODIs, Moeen has 101 wickets at an average of 49.20, with the best bowling figures of 4/46.

Anderson at top

England spin bowlers with more ODI wickets than Moeen are Graeme Swann (104 wickets in 79 matches) and Adil Rashid (184 wickets in 126 matches). Adil is England’s third most-successful ODI bowler ever while Moeen sits at 14th spot. With 269 wickets in 194 matches, pacer James Anderson is England’s most successful ODI bowler ever. 

Coming to the match, after being put to bat first, early powerplay strikes by a returning Trent Boult reduced England to 55/5, with skipper Jos Buttler (30 in 25 balls, with four boundaries) being the only decent contributor among the top five batters. Then Livingstone had a 48-run stand with Moeen (33 in 32 balls with three fours and a six) that helped England reach the 100-run mark and then a 112-run stand with Sam Curran (42 in 35 balls, with one four and two sixes) that helped England reach 226/7 in 50 overs.

Boult (3/37) was the pick of the bowlers for New Zealand. Tim Southee (2/65) got two scalps while Matt Henry and Mitchell Santner got one each. In the chase of 227, NZ was reduced to 55/3, with Finn Allen going for a duck and openers Devon Conway (14) and Will Young (33) falling quickly after a 49-run stand. After a 56-run partnership between Daryl Mitchell (57 in 52 balls, with six fours and a six) and skipper Tom Latham (19), NZ lost their seven wickets for just 36 runs, bundling out for 147 in 26.5 overs. Reece Topley (3/27) and David Willey (3/34) were the pick of the bowlers for England. Moeen got two while Atkinson got one.

Livingstone took home the ‘Player of the Match’ award.