SHARJAH, OCTOBER 19: Former Cricket Board Chief Raj Singh Dungarpur has come up with a strange argument that Indian coaches could be biased against their own players.Indian coaches could be biased, said Dungarpur, as reported in the Gulf News here today.``Foreign coaches are better in analysing players. They are computer savvy and trained for the post. Most of the countries have today gone in for coaches from other Nations,'' said Dungarpur who along with current chief AC Muthiah will interview contenders John Wright and Greg Chappell for the Indian coach's post.The Indian team, which arrived here this morning, has Anshuman Gaekwad as coach but by all accounts this is his final assignment. Gaekwad, who came in the wake of Kapil Dev's resignation in September, was the coach in Nairobi where India finished runners up to New Zealand.But now it is going to be either Wright or Chappell. ``The two shortlisted coaches are highly qualified and were very talented players too. Their services, I am sure, will immensely help the Indian cricketers,'' Dungarpur said.He also felt in countries abroad, former cricketers undergo intense training through various institutions before becoming coaches. ``In India former Test cricketers turn to coaching but they do not go in for any advanced training. In countries like Australia, the prospective coaches are taught the various aspects of coaching before being allowed to coach,'' he said. According to Dungarpur, one important advantage of pointing a foreign coach is that he will not be biased. ``Indian coaches could be biased. Most of the former Test cricketers represent various associations and chances are they could be biased towards certain players. This factor can be eliminated when we choose a foreign coach.''He said foreign coaches were the trend in international cricket today. ``Sri Lanka has Australian Dave Whatmore, England has Zimbabwean coach Duncan Fletcher and Englishman Bob Woolmer proved to be a big success for South Africa.''Regarding the post of the assistant coach for the Indian team, Dungarpur said: ``Right now we have decided not to go in for an assistant coach. If we go in for one it will have to be a Test player and there are chances there could a conflict with the foreign coach. So there will be no assistant to the foreign coach, at least for the time being.''Asked whether with the appointment of a foreign coach, preference would now be given to youngsters, he said: ``Picking youngsters is left to the selectors.''
