A coach for a national side is more of a consultant, not a "coach". It's not like Dravid or Tendulkar need to be taught the finer points of batting. It's more to motivate players, formulate strategies and in general, give insights. A consultant is hired by companies to give perspectives that are not obvious to insiders (out of the box) because they are not encumbered by a set thought process or culture. Even core engineering companies do this. An Indian coach understands the psyche and culture of Indian players, claims Wadekar. Maybe true, but it is ridiculous to presume that a foreigner cannot understand our players. Didn't Wright do a stellar job? Even chappell's tenure was good in patches (record wins chasing, long string of ODI wins, test wins SA, WI etc) - the only problem with him was that he tried to be the captain when he was just a consultant. Wadekar's last line "I can never think of any foreign coach simply because I am just not in favour of one." betrays his bias, which is no different from what he accuses the BCCI of having. He claims BCCI is obsessed with a foreign coach regardless of merit, but his last statement clearly suggests he is obsessed with an Indian coach, merit be damned. The question is do we need a coach at all? The BCCI thinks it does, and having made that decision, it's think tank will select the best for the job. If it happens to be a gora, so what?
