How many coach does a team needs? 3, 4? Batting coach, yes. Bowling coach, sure. Fielding coach, maybe. A head coach, sort of a delivery manager in a corporate company? Alright no problem. Beyond that, a physio and a trainer. The fitness levels of the current players are way higher that how it was a decade ago. Beyond this, I fail to understand because every IPL team have a complete squad as support staff. Sam Curran is certainly a good batsman. He is just like India’s Sundar. Let me write about Sam Curran the batsman and IPL coaches.
Coaches galore
This link will show a complete list of all the support staff in every IPL franchise. All the teams have a long list of support staff. It starts with the director of cricket till analyst. It is an entire eleven. Why would any team needs so many support staff is beyond me. Money spent on such backroom staff can be spent on something else. Something useful. It could be on the players who are the real heroes of the game. What will be the contribution of so many support staff is anyone’s guess. It is time every IPL franchise is trimmed.
Sam Curran is a batting talent
Sam Curran is a proper batsman. Let me announce that right at the outset. Curran came into the England side as a bowler who can bat. He is not an express fast bowler. He is more of an if I have use an Indian colloquial term, military medium pacer. In the sense, he is someone who will be hard pressed to bowl consistently at 135 KPH and above. Nevertheless, he made his debut as a bowler and came into bat at number 8. Yes he did pick a few wickets in his test but it was with the bat he contributed significantly in that series against India. He won a couple of tests with his bat rather than with the ball.
He repeatedly bailed England out of tricky situations. Such was his impact in that series as a batsman that the Indian team chose him as the man of the series. As the man who made a real difference in the series. If not for him, India would have won that series.
However, it didn’t dawn on the England selectors and they continued to treat him as a batsman. Curran himself is not believing that he can bat better. In many ways, he is like Sundar of India. Sundar is a proper batsman. So much so that he can easily replace Rahane in the playing eleven. Sundar and Curran are in the same position. Neither the players themselves nor the selectors and the team management believes that they are contribute significantly with the bat. This is a piece about Curran and so I will stick to him.
Curran must believe
It is time Curran understands his talent as a batsman and promote himself as a proper batsman. There are places in the England’s top order that he can fill. If he starts to concentrate more on his batting, he can be an real asset for the England batting order. Someone like Smith though not upto that standards. Smith too started as a leg spinner and a lower order hitter. Just look at where Smith stands now after he relinquished his bowling.
The 95 that he scored in the last ODI against India when he very nearly won the game and the series against all odds denotes that he is much better batsman than a bowler. As such his position is in the top or middle order in both tests and ODIs. By sending him so low down the order, England’s is wasting his batting skills.
Allan Lamb who has coached Sam Curran and his brothers had this to say
“That’s what he is. He’s a proper batsman and he’ll just get better and better but he needs chances to show that.
“If they’re going to keep using him like this then I think he’ll get a bit frustrated. Long-term he would able to bat at six.
Hope the England selectors and the management listens.
Cricket at the Olympics
It looks like the BCCI is exploring the opportunity of playing T20 at the Olympics. Though it is not a bad move, it is not something I will vote for. Cricket remains an elite sport. It must be played amongst a handful of nations only. Olympics, some unknown country may also play and just imagine the gulf in the abilities. It will only make a mockery of the game. If at all cricket needs to be played at the Olympics, it must remain an under 19 game and certainly not a professional one.
Please let me know your comments about Sam Curran the batsman and IPL coaches.
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