Whatmore to be Kolkata coach

Ajay S Shankar

October 12, 2009

Kolkata Knight Riders have lined up Dav Whatmore as coach, putting an
end to months of speculation and uncertainty after the exit of John
Buchanan. Whatmore, who guided Sri Lanka to the 1996 World Cup title,
has been given the job more than three months after the team sacked
Buchanan following two disastrous IPL seasons in which they finished
sixth and eighth.

Whatmore is head of the BCCI's National Cricket Academy in Bangalore,
but KKR sources told Cricinfo that the Indian board, which also runs
the hugely successful Twenty20 league, has cleared the coach to take
up the new assignment. Whatmore was not available for a reaction - he
is away in Australia on vacation -- and Joy Bhattacharya, the Kolkata
team's director, declined to comment.

Kolkata zeroed in on Whatmore after meeting a number of candidates,
including John Wright, Richard Pybus, Dermot Reeve, Duncan Fletcher,
Lalchand Rajput, WV Raman and Ashok Malhotra. The Knight Riders have
also lined up Wasim Akram as a consultant to guide their bowling
attack, Vijay Dahiya as assistant coach, and are expected to recall
Sourav Ganguly as captain though a formal declaration can be expected
only after they officially announce the coach's appointment.

The Kolkata management had informally sounded out Whatmore in June
and
followed it up with an interview in August at the Mumbai residence of
Shah Rukh Khan, the Bollywood star, who co-owns the Kolkata franchise
along with Jay Mehta, a businessman.

Whatmore, 55, played seven Tests for Australia and brings to the IPL
an impressive record. Apart from the 1996 World Cup title, he guided
Bangladesh to two historic wins in the 2007 World Cup against India
and South Africa, and also coached Lancashire to title wins in the
NatWest and Sunday League in 1998. Last year, he was coach of the
India under-19 team that won the junior World Cup in Malaysia.

In 2007, he was on the verge of being appointed India coach before
the
BCCI think tank changed its mind at the last minute and opted for
Gary
Kirsten; the Indian board subsequently got Whatmore on board as
director of cricket at the NCA.

But more than the records, what might work for Whatmore in Kolkata is
his low-profile, hands-on approach and man-management skills,
especially the ability to motivate players from the subcontinent and
help them raise their performance, as his record with Sri Lanka and
Bangladesh showed. His experience with the Indian board's academy may
also come in handy as Kolkata have long-term plans of starting a
full-
fledged facility of their own.

Buchanan's tenure with Kolkata was marred by controversy after the
former Australian coach unveiled his multi-captaincy theory that
generated a lot of debate worldwide and then replaced Ganguly, the
local icon, as captain with Brendon McCullum. McCullum will not be
available for most of the next IPL - from March 12 to April 25 - and
will play instead for New Zealand against Australia in the home
series
in March.