Virender Sehwag And Ashish Nehra – Harbhajan Singh Backs Split Coaching, Suggests Names For India’s T20 Coach

Mumbai: After India’s loss in the T20 World Cup semi-final in Australia against England, there have been extensive talks about split coaching and captaincy.

While Hardik Pandya looks good to take over Rohit Sharma soon, will there be split coaching? Citing the example of England, veteran India cricketer reckoned you need someone who understands T20. Harbhajan also went on to suggest two names for becoming India’s next T20 coach. The two names he suggested are Virender Sehwag and Ashish Nehra.

“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,” he said during an Idea Exchange session of The Indian Express.

“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,” Harbhajan added.

Ahead of the ODI World Cup this year in India, Harbhajan urged the Indian cricketers to show a little more intent as they prepare for that tournament.

“I think we need to show a little more intent. If you are playing T20s then you can’t play it like a one-day match. If you are playing one-day, you can’t play it like a Test match. We can’t be dependent on two-three players to win you the championship. When you have a World Cup in front of you, you need eight to nine guys performing at the same time. One or two players can win you matches, but it is the team which can win you the tournament,” he concluded.