by Shreyas Bhide
It seems Bangalore Royal Challengers ‘histrionics’ seems to be having a rather dreadful effect on quite a few heads. First Charu Sharma and now Martin Crowe has faced the axe.
Former South African wicket keeper Ray Jennings has been appointed as Coach for the Indian Premier League (IPL) Team Bangalore Royal Challengers. Meanwhile, former Bangalore CCO Martin Crowe, who was given freedom from his charge has claimed that it was him who suggested Jenning for the job. Right now Jennings is busy monitoring and looking over a few players from the Karnataka’s Ranji team’s training camp. Reportedly, Jennings was surprised by the low intensity levels of a few players at the beginning of the camp, a senior member of the team said.
On his appointment the former South African keeper admitted that though he was a bit worried about the older guys, he promised to turn the team’s fortune around with quite a few changes in the team. A turnaround, by getting the right players in the right positions and in the right frame of mind would take some time to complete, he was quoted as saying. It may be remembered here that the Bangalore team’s dismal performance in the first edition ofthe successful IPL had prompted its owner Vijay Mallya to openly critisie the team and its composition. Bangalore Royal Challengers was tagged as a Test side, comprising players such as Dravid, Wasim Jaffer, Jacques Kallis, and Anil Kumble. This was followed by the sacking of the CEO Charu Sharma and appointment of Brijesh Patel, the former Indian batsman and secretary of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) in his place. About the team’s first IPL showing, Jennings blamed it on the senior players saying that they lacked energy, commitment and skills. Despite the poor performances last year, Jennings was confident of turning things around saying that he had turned teams from nothing to something and was sure of repeating the same with Bangalore Royal Challengers.
He admitted he wanted to be with them for a longer time and hence wanted to see some discipline amongst the team members. Jennings was firm about his intolerance for any indiscipline in the team. He warned the players that any sort of indiscipline, loss of commitment or lack of intensity among the players will be fiercely challenged as he didn’t want such characters to bring a bad name to the whole team. This stern warning comes in the face of a comment made by Bangalore player Dale Steyn that IPL was a paid vacation.
Commenting about captain Rahul Dravid, Ray Jennings said he is planning to meet Rahul Dravid to discuss the future of his captaincy and role in the side. He said he would ask Dravid to step down if he felt he wasn’t the right candidate for the job. Similarly Dravid could also be asked to open if needed.
Jennings apointment and his comments about sweeping changes in the team are a part of a series of management changes effected by various IPL teams leading up to the one-month trading window for players that starts on December 15. Former Australia wicket keeper Adam Gilchrist replaced Hyderabad Deccan Chargers’ skipper VVS Laxman to take charge of the team in his hands. The Jaipur and Delhi franchises have also sacked their chief executives, despite their success in the first season. It remains to be seen if these changes vring about any changes in the fortunes of the respective IPL teams.
