Former India player Pravin Amre is delighted with Delhi Capitals’ (DC) show this Indian Premier League (IPL) season, but he is not surprised at all. Amre was DC’s head talent scout until last year, a position which has since been taken by Vijay Dahiya.
Amre had joined DC when Gary Kirsten was the head coach, and, after that, Ricky Ponting took over. Unlike many domestic coaches, Amre is not bitter about the presence of many overseas coaches in the IPL. In fact, he says that he had a great time with Ponting.
Amre is also happy that he too may have played a little part in Delhi’s resurgence as he was there in 2019 when DC made it to the qualifiers for the first time in eight years. Moneycontrol spoke to Amre, who has spent over a decade in the IPL, coaching multiple teams, recently on a range of issues related to the coaching business of IPL.
How do you look back at your stint with Capitals?
Amre: I think I am happy that we were part of that journey (from being at the bottom to making it to the play-off). We were so down, and, then, we started to come up. I can take some satisfaction from the fact that as a talent head, I was backed by the owners and we all backed uncapped Indian players like Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and Prithvi Shaw.
How about Ponting as head coach?
Amre: Ponting has been such a big player, who has been part of multiple world-cup winning sides as a player and as a coach. He has also got a very good record as a coach, and, for me, it was a great learning time to be sitting next to them in the dugout, learning how he handled the team. There was so much to learn from his methods.
Do you sometimes find it a bit odd that a lot of foreign coaches who are not a big name like Ponting do get recognition, and our low-profile coaches don’t get enough appreciation?
Amre: I agree with you. We do give preference to foreigners because sometimes they do come up with good presentations. Many of them (foreign coaches) has worked with many international leagues.
They (the same people) will be in the Big Bash (an Australian professional franchise Twenty20 cricket league, which was established in 2011 by Cricket Australia), in the Carribean Premier League (CPL) -- in the head coach, assistant coach roles etc. So it becomes easier for a team to connect with them.
Our connections are not that great because we are not going abroad (for coaching). It is also about own priorities. I was not a full-time coach because I was working for Air India. They (many foreign coaches) are into full-time coaching.
Do being low-profile goes against the likes of Lalchand Rajput, Sanjay Bangar and you?
Amre: I personally disagree with that. High profile or low profile doesn’t matter; your work should always speak for you. I was head coach of the Mumbai Ranji team, which won three titles. It’s always better if a coach maintains a low-profile because you have to adjust with high-profile players. I was very aggressive as a player, but when I became a coach, I realised that my ego should be in my back pocket.
Last year, you lost out to Vikram Rathour for the Indian batting coach position. What was your reaction? Where did you fail in the interview?
Amre: I feel I meet all the criteria for being a Level 3 coach, handling first class teams and all that. What I can only say is that the panel may have felt that Vikram was a better candidate.
You didn’t play enough for India despite having a good record in international cricket. How does that experience help you in talking to modern youngsters? Do you find that the new generation is too desperate for success and just can’t handle failure?
Amre: It depends from person to person. Everyone does get affected by setbacks. It wasn’t easy for me, and people say I was unfortunate not to play 50 Tests for the country, but I have no complaints. I have seen a lot of players who were not happy and setbacks had disturbed their family life. I went into umpiring and coaching, so that I could be associated with the new generation of Indian cricketers in some way or the other.
How do you look at the rise of players like Sairaj Bahutule (Rajasthan Royals), Abhishek Nair (Kolkata Knight Riders) and many others who were coached by you, and are now in the coaching business themselves?
Amre: I am really, really proud. As Anil Kumble has mentioned, more Indians should be there. Amol (Muzumdar) is there (with Royals), and Wasim Jaffer is there (KXIP).
We should have more friends in IPL coaching. I like that Jaffer retired and joined coaching because he was such a great player and has so much knowledge to share.
How do you rate a coach?
Amre: The success of a coach is difficult to judge. It can vary from how many tournaments you have won or how many players you have produced. Some coaches are judged by how many titles he or she has won as a coach, and some are judged by how many talents have been mentored by them.
(Vimal Kumar has covered multiple cricket world cups and Rio Olympics in the last two decades. The author of Sachin: Cricketer Of The Century and The Cricket Fanatic’s Essential Guide can be reached @Vimalwa on Twitter)
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