New Delhi – Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has pushed himself forward to become the next coach of the national side, telling cricket chiefs that next time they should turn to a homegrown candidate.
The Zimbabwean Duncan Fletcher, who took over from South Africa's Gary Kirsten last year, has been under pressure after heavy Test series defeats against England and Australia.
A poor showing in this month's T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka could make his position untenable.
Ganguly backed Fletcher to continue in the hot seat but said he would be ready to fill the job whenever a vacancy occurred.
“If the BCCI (Indian cricket board) feels that I can be a good coach, I will be ready,” he told the Hindi news channel Aaj Tak.
“I feel I can create a difference in terms of the ability of the players, their form and their development. That will be one way of my repaying the game.”
Ganguly has carved out a career as a TV pundit since retiring from the international game in 2008 after a falling-out with former coach Greg Chappell, the former Australian skipper.
Ganguly said Indian cricket should no longer feel it had to look to outsiders to fulfill the national team's potential.
“Indian cricket is well aware of the modern techniques now. Don't forget, we won the World T20 in 2007... and Chandu Borde was the coach on our victorious tour of England in 2007, so it is about the ability to understand the players better that matters now,” he said.
Ganguly said he was fully behind Fletcher but added that the former England coach “needs good results”.
“He has a young side under him and he would need to work hard for the team to win outside of the subcontinent,” he told the network.
The left-handed Ganguly is the most successful captain in the history of the Indian national side, overseeing 21 wins in 49 Tests.
He scored 7,212 runs in 113 Tests and 11,363 runs in 311 one-day internationals in a career spanning more than a decade. – Sapa-AFP