Former India captain and batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has raised an important point about foreign coaches getting first hand information about Indian players during their stints in the IPL. Gavaskar was asked about the incident during the Edgbaston Test when it was reported that England head coach Brendon McCullum signalled his bowlers from the balcony to bowl short deliveries at Shreyas Iyer.
Gavaskar told Sports Today that he had not seen the incident but he pointed out that IPL stints for foreign coaches is something that needs to be looked into because it is proving to be disadvantageous for Indian cricket in the larger scheme of things.
"It is something that we need to look at when it comes to coaches in the IPL. You have a lot of players who are coaching their national teams and when they come to the IPL, they tend to see our players first hand. Now getting data from the computer and seeing players first hand is something different.
"So it is of disadvantage to Indian cricket because some of them may go back and assist, perhaps not be the main coaches but as assistant coaches or batting consultants or bowling consultants, who are coming in and getting first hand information about Indian players, that might not be advantageous for India," Gavaskar told Sports Today.
India lost the Edgbaston Test by 7 wickets after they failed to make the most of a 100-run plus lead as batters succumbed to 245 in the second innings. The target of 378 runs was chased down in almost no time by the England batters with Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow slamming unbeaten tons.