What’s the story?
Former Bangladesh and Sri Lanka coach, Dav Whatmore, has signed a short-term deal with the Kerala Cricket Association to coach the team for six months in the upcoming season. The Australian will coach the senior team as well as provide inputs to coaches of the U-23 team and the junior teams.
Whatmore said that he was looking forward to the coaching stint in an interview with ESPNcricinfo, “I'll be working six months with SRU to help set up a system, and it so worked out that the domestic season in India starts only after that. ”
The Australian coach spoke about what he will try to achieve in his short spell at the Kerala Cricket Association, “It's important to build a system which can then help extend growth within the game across the state. That is what I'm looking forward to doing.”
In case you didn’t know...
Whatmore has coached several teams in the subcontinent and his most successful spell with the Sri Lankan national team was when he helped the team win the 1996 Cricket World Cup. The former Australian batsman also coached Bangladesh and Pakistan, while his last coaching job was with the Zimbabwean national team between 2014 and 2016.
The heart of the matter
The Australian will work for six months with the Kerala Cricket Association and said that he hopes to develop players as well as get positive results. The Kerala team had a dismal season last year in the Ranji Trophy as they won just one of their nine matches, and they also fared poorly in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, where they couldn’t progress to the knockout stage.
Whatmore said that the most exciting aspect of the role is the challenge of helping young players go to the next level with their on-field performances.
What’s next?
The team will be based out of Chennai as the onset of the monsoon will make training hard in Kerala. The Kerala team will use the facilities of Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai, who have tied up with Whatmore’s academy, Whatmore Centre of Cricket.
Author’s Take
The inputs of a reputed and successful coach like Whatmore will certainly help the team in the short and long term. Kerala do have exciting, young talents like Sanju Samson and Basil Thampi who could help Kerala cricket as well as the Indian national team in the future.
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