Explainer: Who was the best head coach in the history of Indian cricket? Know who strengthened Team India and how much

Explainer: In the history of Indian cricket, many great legends of the country and the world have played the role of head coach, but when it comes to the best and most influential head coaches, the names of Gary Kirsten, John Wright and Rahul Dravid come at the top. Of all these, Gary Kirsten is considered to be the most successful and favorite head coach in the history of Indian cricket, who made Team India the world champion after 28 years. So, in this article, let us talk about all those head coaches of the Indian team and know how successful the Indian team was during the tenure of which coach.

Gary Kirsten’s tenure in the Indian team (2008–2011)

Former South African legend Gary Kirsten served as the head coach of Team India from 2008 to 2011. His tenure is considered the golden period of Indian cricket. Kirsten may have been of a quiet nature, but he was an amazing backstage strategist, who gave Indian players the freedom to play freely and brought forward a new generation. The combination of him and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni created history.

Gary Kirsten made India world champion after 28 years under his coaching. India won the historic title on its soil by defeating Sri Lanka in the 2011 ODI World Cup. Not only this, Team India achieved the feat of becoming number-1 in the ICC Test rankings for the first time under the coaching of Gary Kirsten. In December 2009, the Indian team officially became the world number-1 team for the first time in the history of ICC Test rankings. During the tenure of Gary Kirsten, Team India hoisted its flag in foreign countries also. Under Kirsten’s guidance, India won the Test series in New Zealand after a long time and succeeded in drawing the Test series 1-1 on South African soil.

John Wright is considered the architect of the Indian team (2000–2005)

Former New Zealand captain John Wright was India’s first foreign head coach. He was given the responsibility of head coach of Team India in the year 2000 at a time when Indian cricket was struggling with the dark shadow of match fixing and controversies. John Wright, along with captain Sourav Ganguly, laid the foundation of a fearless team, which learned to win by going to foreign soil.

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Under the coaching of John Wright, Team India had reached the final of the ODI World Cup played in South Africa in 2003. Apart from this, in the year 2001, the Indian team had registered a historic series 2-1 on home soil by stopping Australia’s victory streak of 16 consecutive Test matches. Under the coaching of John Wright, India won the 2002 NatWest Trophy in England. The Test series in Australia was drawn 1-1. Apart from this, in the year 2004, Pakistan was defeated in both Test and ODI series at home.

India dominated overseas Tests under Ravi Shastri’s coaching (2017–2021)

Ravi Shastri was the head coach of Team India from 2017 to 2021. During his tenure, a different type of aggression and fitness culture was seen in Team India. The pair of Shastri and captain Virat Kohli taught the Indian team to play aggressively on foreign soil in Test cricket and made them a very dangerous team. In terms of winning percentage, Ravi Shastri is counted among the most successful head coaches of Team India.

Under the coaching of Ravi Shastri, Team India achieved the feat of winning the Test series in Australia twice in a row. India created history by defeating Australia twice in a row at home in the 2018-19 and 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The Indian team became the first team in Asia to defeat Australia twice in a Test series on its own soil. Apart from this, India had performed well on the England tour that started in the year 2021 and ultimately in the year 2022, this series ended in a 2-2 draw. Not only this, Team India won bilateral T20 and ODI series on foreign soil under the supervision of Shastri. However, Team India did not win any ICC trophy during Shastri’s tenure.

India ends ICC trophy drought under Rahul Dravid (2021–2024)

After Ravi Shastri, veteran batsman Rahul Dravid was appointed the head coach of Team India in November 2021. The pair of Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma kept Team India a strong contender in ICC knockout matches. India won the ICC title once under Dravid’s coaching. Whereas once he won the Asia Cup trophy.

In the last match of Rahul Dravid’s tenure, the Indian team won the T20 World Cup title of 2024. The team became champion in this tournament by remaining unbeaten in all the matches. India won the T20 World Cup title after 17 years. Earlier, in the year 2023 ODI World Cup, Team India had traveled till the final. In this tournament also, the Indian team reached the finals by winning all its consecutive matches, but then had to face defeat in the finals against Australia. Team India also reached the final of the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) under the coaching of Dravid, but India lost in this title match also. At the same time, in Asia Cup 2023, India won the trophy by defeating Sri Lanka. Not only this, Team India continued to dominate the bilateral series under Dravid’s coaching. After Dravid, Gautam Gambhir was made the head coach of Team India. Under his coaching, Team India definitely won the Champions Trophy and T20 World Cup, but India is in a bad shape in bilateral series.

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