Fletcher back as India Coach
Thursday, April 28, 2011 : Tests, ODI
A familiar face will be in the tourist's balcony this summer after it was announced Duncan Fletcher will become India coach from this summer.
The former Zimbabwe captain is largely credited with turning England's fortunes around at the start of the last decade, with the pinnacle being that wonderful 2005 Ashes series.
But that success didn't come overnight. He took over in 1999, a year where England hit their lowest ebb, losing at home to New Zealand and dropping below Zimbabwe in the world Test rankings. He also oversaw a 4-1 home series defeat to the Aussies in 2001.
But with Nasser Hussian and later Michael Vaughan as captain Fletcher's influence slowly started to turn things around with a significant first post apartheid win in South Africa, a pre-cursor to that Ashes win.
It is a shame then that his reputation was tarnished by that crushing 5-0 whitewash down under in 2006/07 and the subsequent poor performance in the World Cup. However, over time the lessons learned from that brutal series stood the side in good stead for the 2009 and 2010/11 Ashes series. Those following the in-play betting online wouldn't have been surprised at the way the side performed.
He was also very touchy with the media, with Vaughan tweeting that Fletcher "really understood how it works" during his time with England.
That could prove problematic with cricket-mad India, where their stars are even more popular than Premier League footballers and the national mood is passionately and sometimes hysterically linked with the side's results and those who look at the betting will know this.
If things go wrong – or indeed go right – then the media and Indian public will demand answers, and Fletcher may not always be in the mood to offer.
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