Former England great Tony Greig has criticised the BCCI's
decision to rope in Gary Kirsten as India's cricket coach, saying the
new appointee would be nothing more than a puppet in the hands of senior players.
"It (Kirsten's appointment) came as a bit of a surprise to me. It probably
has something to do with employing someone who is likely to let the senior players
have their way and definitely not someone who will impose himself on the team
the way Greg Chappell did," Greig was quoted as saying by 'The Herald
Sun'.
Greig felt the Indian board was perhaps wary of having an assertive
person at the helm after having to deal with umpteenth controversies during
Chappell's tenure, which ended with India's disastrous World Cup campaign
earlier this year.
The former England player said he was surprised by the
BCCI's reluctance to go for more experienced coaches like Tom Moody,
who has been with the Sri Lankan team, and John Buchanan, who guided
Australia to back-to-back World Cup titles.
"Why India didn't go for someone like Tom Moody
or John Buchanan is a mystery to me," he said.
Greig said Kirsten would have a torrid time dealing with a
lot of off-field issues while being with the Indian team and felt the internal
"politics" within the board was one of the reasons why Indian contenders
were overlooked for the job.
"This is a job that is so difficult and so political that the Indians
are reluctant to appoint an Indian," he said.
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