12 March,2014 08:49 AM IST | | Harit N Joshi
Former Indian wicketkeeper is much more critical of under-fire coach than former teammate Sunil Gavaskar; reiterates Duncan Fletcher's weakness and feels he should be sacked right away
Farokh Engineer
Criticism directed towards India coach Duncan Fletcher increased when former India cricketer Farokh Engineer, who has been critical of Fletcher's appointment from Day One, felt batting legend Sunil Gavaskar was a bit generous in rating the Zimbabwean 1.5 on a scale of 10.
Farokh Engineer makes a point during the Legends Club meeting at the Cricket Club of India yesterday. Pic/Atul Kamble.
"I think Sunil was quite generous. I told him this in the morning while having a chat. I would rate him 0.5 on a scale of 10. Fletcher has been an absolute failure. What has he achieved as a cricketer? He was sacked by the English cricket board," Engineer said at the Legends Club meeting at the Cricket Club of India on the birth anniversary of batting great Vijay Hazare.
Sunil Gavaskar
Give Dravid the job
Engineer seconded Gavaskar's view that Team India needs someone like Rahul Dravid as coach. "Sunny is absolutely right. We need a younger coach and India has so many good cricketers. They can definitely coach well. Why can't we pay our own guys?" he asked.
"If the opposition want six runs in the last over, an ideal delivery in such situations is a yorker. But our bowlers bowl good length deliveries instead. That frustrates me. These are elementary things which the coach has to point out. But I don't know what they are doing," a fuming Engineer said.
When asked whether it would be right to sack Fletcher with the World Cup less than a year away, he said: "Oh yes, absolutely. He should be sacked right away. No harm in it. Anyway, what has he done yet? If he had to achieve anything, he would have done it in all these years."
The former India stumper, however, backed underfire Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni: "We need Dhoni as captain. Without him, our team is depleted. But at the same time we need to start grooming another leader. Virat Kohli is a good deputy. He can do well."
. Engineer seconds Sunny's view that India needs someone like Rahul Dravid as coach
. Ex-India stumper backs skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni
