Duncan Fletcher

A former Zimbabwean cricketer and captain, Duncan Andrew Gwynne Fletcher would be remembered as the man who changed the fortunes of English cricket.

Born in a Rhodesian family, Fletcher was Zimbabwe’s first ever ODI captain and guided the team to a famous victory over Australia in the 1983 World Cup. He took over as the coach of the England cricket team in 1999 when it was in shambles. Under his tenure, England achieved tremendous success as the team oversaw back to back Test series wins in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and South Africa from 2000-04. In 2004, they whitewashed New Zealand at home and West Indies away. However, the biggest achievement of his career came when England regained the Ashes series in 2005, a feat achieved after 18 long years. First with Nasser Hussain and then with Michael Vaughan, he moulded the England team into one of the best Test teams in the world.

On the contrary, he was not as much successful in reviving the ODI team as it saw a dripping form, the only major victory coming in the 2007 Commonwealth Bank Series. England’s disappointing World Cup campaign in 2007 prompted Fletcher to step down from a position that he endeared for as long as eight years. His biggest drawback though, was that he never shared great camaraderie with the media. After giving up the England job, he took up some minor assignments, one of them being the batting consultant of South Africa in 2008.

The BCCI appointed Fletcher as the coach of the Indian team in April 2011 for a period of two years, succeeding South African Gary Kirsten. He was a top candidate for the job and bagged it ahead of New Zealand’s Stephen Fleming and country-mate Andy Flower.