PICKING THE RIGHT COACH

That could be a challenge for the eight franchisees of the Maharashtra Premier League beginning next month

Suhrid Barua, Pune Mirror, April 7, 20009

The role of a coach can never be undermined. And for all the eight franchisees of the upcoming Maharashtra Premier League, it could turn out be a ‘challenge’ to avoid the lurking apprehension of not getting the ‘best lot’. The man in the ‘hot seat’ is going to hold the key to strategising every frachisee’s fortunes, and it’s imperative that every franchisee does it homework well before plumbing for someone to do the job.
It also has to be respected that the cricketing acumen and knowhow of the franchisees may not be of the same level like, say that of Ajay Shirke, whose Cadence owns the Raigad Royals franchisee.
For instance, there’s a strong possibility that a franchisees or a franchisee holder could be in the dark about the credentials of a coach for the simple reason that he could be from a non-cricketing background. Even though a franchisee is affronted with a slew of coaches’ profiles and their career highlights, there’s every likelihood that he could end up consulting various people to decide on the right coach.
MCA president Ajay Shirke says the state association would like to stand ‘neutral’ on the same. “We’ve shortlisted about twenty-five to thirty coaches and consultants. We will be sending this list of coaches and consultants along with a brief bio-data of their credentials to all the franchisees. Similarily, all the aspiring coaches would be asked to get in touch with the franchisees if they want to be placed with them. As far as we are concerned, we would like to remain neutral.”
So, will the brief bio-data of the coaches’ credentials be enough to mitigate the possibility of franchisees roping in the wrong man? “Every franchisee would like to pick the right man who can guide his team to get the desired results.
“You got to understand that we are taking measures to ensure the franchisees are not disadvantaged in this regard. They woud have a wider pool to choose from and I’m sure there won’t be any hassles on this count,” Shirke said.