If I were the head coach, I would want people whom I’m comfortable working with: Robin Singh

Adding to the latest drama in Indian cricket, Ravi Shastri seems to have got his way against the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) and Bharat Arun is all set to join Team India as the bowling coach. While the BCCI had named Zaheer Khan (bowling) and Rahul Dravid (batting) as consultants, the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (COA) hasn’t ratified the decision.

It’s no secret that Shastri favoured his former colleague Arun back as regular bowling coach. The former Tamil Nadu pacer, now in all probability, will also travel to Sri Lanka with Team India. Robin Singh who had a decent stint as the Indian fielding coach gave his views on the ongoing debate. He believes there is nothing wrong for a head coach to bring his own choice of support staff.

Robin was sacked as fielding coach following India’s poor performance in the 2009 T20 World Cup and Champions Trophy. However, he was extremely sceptic that the delay in announcing support staff might be converted into a controversy.

Every coach wants his own people

According to Cricket Next, Robin said, “If I were the head coach, I would want people whom I’m comfortable working with. A coach must have an understanding with support staff to deliver. A head coach should have a comfort level. Ask anyone, whether it’s a cricketer or any other professional, everyone wants his own people.”

According to a senior BCCI official, Shastri apparently has no issues with both Zaheer and Dravid assisting the team, but he wants people of his choice to be with the team on a full-time basis. The head coach has also made it clear that while he is happy to have the services of former India stars, he wants full-time assistant coaches according to his choice and not that of the CAC.

Bharat Arun had replaced Joe Dawes in 2014 and was with the Indian team till 2016. Arun and Shastri have been buddies since their U-19 days back in the early 80’s. It was on the then team director’s recommendation that former president N Srinivasan gave a go-ahead to Arun’s appointment with the senior team when he was the bowling consultant at the NCA.