Harbhajan Singh wants Rahul Dravid to be removed as India’s head coach in T20Is, suggests new candidate for the role

Published on February 26, 2023

Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has urged the Indian team to move forward with split coaching responsibilities. The 42-year-old thinks India should have a coach who is knowledgeable enough about the complexities of T20 cricket to allow them to focus solely on that format.

Even though Rahul Dravid is the only coach of the Men in Blue at the moment, the captaincy has changed since the 20-20 World Cup 2022. In ODIs and Test matches, Rohit Sharma leads the team India, while Hardik Pandya is in charge of the T20Is. Pandya has not yet been formally named the T20I captain by the Indian Cricket Board, though.

While speaking to the Indian Express, Harbhajan Singh highlighted that England had chosen Matthew Mott as their coach for the limited-overs format and Brendon McCullum as their coach for Test cricket. Considering that the Gujarat franchise clinch the Indian T20 League in 2022, Harbhajan also suggested Ashish Nehra for the position of India’s T20I coach.

I think we need to show a little more intent: Harbhajan Singh

“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 as captain. So, bring someone who understands the concept of T20 and demands of the game,” Harbhajan was quoted as saying on 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,” the former off-spinner added.

The former Indian cricketer believes the side should play with greater desire and avoid being overly dependent on a couple of players in light of their results at major world games.

“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,” he concluded.