Venkatesh Prasad believes injuries "cannot be prevented" and a "transparent" rotation policy is the best way to guard against player burnout.

"To put it scientifically, when a fast bowler lands on his backfoot, the momentum created by the run-up and the jump before landing makes him bring down 10 times his body weight. Imagine doing that time and again. So we need to manage the bowlers correctly. We have to monitor the amount of physical fitness and the amount of bowling at the nets he does. It is the coach's job to keep the bowlers fresh. And this is where I think a specialised coach can be handy."

Prasad was of the opinion that good coach was one who went to the root cause of a player's problem. "Causes, not symptoms," he said cryptically. "Let me explain. Suppose a bowler's head is falling away at the time of delivery, you don't need a coach to tell you that. You can see that yourself. But you expect the coach to tell you why it is happening, the cause, and what should be done to rectify it.

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Ajit Wadekar feels that an Indian coach will be best for the team. And his reasons are:

"Personally, I believe because of the Indian culture, psyche and varied backgrounds of the Indian players, they can subconsciously form groups. A foreign coach may not be able to understand the nuances or work ethics as well as an Indian coach," said Wadekar.

I have said it before and I will say it again. I want to understand a few things.

I want to understand in very specific details, what do people mean by "Indian culture". With relation to sports, what is Indian culture? How is this culture important in terms of it affecting the victories and losses? What does Wadekar mean when he says that a foreigner will not understand Indian culture. Surely, a foreigner will not be an Indian. Surely he will not understand the Marathi way of living or southern way of living or Bengali way of living. But does it matter? Every sport has some requirements from the players. Every coach is obligated to make sure that the players meet those requirements. How can culture play a part in this? Did John Wright know Bengali culture? I don't think so. Still, he got good results. Did Kapil Dev know Marathi culture? Surely, he knew about it more that John Wright. Still he was the biggest failure as a coach. What is the guarantee that knowing Indian culture will give ANY coach an advantage over another one, doesn't know anything about it?

I want to understand in very specific details, what do people mean by "psyche". What does Wadekar means when he says that an Indian coach will better understand psyche of Indian players? Acutally, what IS the psyche of Indian players? It is that they don't want to be pushed out of their comfort zones? Is it that they want to be treated as stars or god by the coach, because media and fans treat them like that? It is that they want to do their own things, at their own pace? They want to have their own food habits, their own health habits? First of all, is the psyche of Indian player good for them? This is the most important question, IMO. Will Indian players be better is they are allowed to follow their psyche? If left alone, will they do things that will be good for them, strictly from sports point of view? I don't think so. I feel Indian players need to be told when they are going off-track. They need to be told what the correct tack is. Yes, there is a right way of telling and there is a wrong way. But whatever way you choose, it has nothing to do with the psyche of the player. A coach has to be honest with the players while guiding them. If he tries to understand their psyche, he will not remain honest. He will give in to the fakeness, the pretensions that surround the players.

Then Wadekar talks about work ethics and groupism. He talks about it in a tone that says that, per him, it is okay to form groups and also it is better is the coach follows the work ethics of the players rather then having them follow the ethics that will make them better. This is the biggest drawback of having an Indian coach, if the Indian coach follows what Wadekar preaches. Yes, players speaking same language will stick together. But it is the coach's job to try to bring them all together, say, by having team activities. It is a coach's job to tell them what good work ethics are, and point out the shortcomings of the ethic players currently follow. Saying that an Indian coach will better understand the players work ethics seems like saying that if a player is fat and lazy, the Indian coach will understand why he is fat and lazy. So? What will the coach do with that understanding? Will he try to make him slim and active or will he let the player be as he is, because he understands why the player is fat and lazy? If it is the former, coach doesn't need to know why the player is fat and lazy. He just needs to make him fit. If it is the latter, coach is a misfit in his job.

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Kapil Dev blasts the seniors for preferring a foreigner as coach.

"The players have never worked with Whatmore, how can they recommend his name," a miffed Kapil told news channel Aaj Tak.

He was against the preference for a foreign coach and if the trend continued, he said, "One day, things will be such than Sachin (Tendulkar), VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly will be in contention for the coach's job but would never get it."

Now you see why I get agitated when past greats open their mouths?

1. Dear Kapil, seniors prefer a foreigner, probably, because they remember your stint as Indian coach. Remember it? You were the last Indian coach and your stint was not exactly a trailblazing one (I will be charitable here). So, what is the guarantee of an indian succeding in the job? We have you, Madan Lal etc. for examples.

2. Dear Kapil, seniors prefer a foreigner, probably, because they feel that they can get a John Wright kind of a guy again, who will take the team forward. They might get a Chappell again, but it's a risk worth taking.

3. Dear Kapil, many players had not worked with you too, when you became the coach. So? Should you have not been given the chance, if we go by your logic? Should John Wright have not been given a chance?

4. Dear Kapil, first let Sachin, Rahul, Sourav, Laxman apply for the job and be rejected in favor of a foreigner; then we will talk about it. Talking hypothetically about something that has not happened and whose chances of happening are not bright, is not the right thing to do.