File photo of Rahul Dravid© BCCI/Sportzpics
With Team India head coach Rahul Dravid‘s tenure set to end after the 2024 T20 World Cup, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has already rolled out the advertisement for the new coach. Though Dravid is also eligible to reapply for the role, BCCI secretary Jay Shah has also confirmed that the board is open to hiring a foreign coach too. One of the finest foreign coaches in the game, Justin Langer, who has also guided the Australian team in the past, has subtly thrown his hat in the ring.
In a chat with the Times of India, Langer confirmed that though he hasn’t given serious thought to the India head coach role, the job would indeed be ‘extraordinary and fascinating’ for him.
“Well, I am curious. I’ve never ever thought about it. I have deep respect for any international coach because I understand the pressure, but coaching the Indian team would be an extraordinary role. From what I’ve seen with the amount of talent I’ve seen in this country, it would be fascinating,” Langer said.
The former Australia cricketer also took the deep dive into the mindset of a coach when asked about his mechanism of dealing with failures.
“I’m sure individuals think about the fear of failure. I lived with it until I was 28 years old. And it is paralysing, the fear of failure. It can drive you, but living in a world of fear of failure is a dangerous world. We are human beings. I remember seeing Steve Waugh suffer that. He was a run machine but had got a duck. He was going through a small run of failures. I remember he got out just before stumps in Johannesburg and got in the bus after that – he had his collar up, had his cap down and wore sunglasses. I went and sat with him. I said, ‘How’re you feeling, captain?’ He goes, ‘Pretty rubbish.’ So, even the greats have doubts and insecurities. That’s being human, right?,” he replied.
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