Former India coach Gaekwad wants Fletcher to start all over again as theu00a0ODI series gets underway today

Many would agree that Duncan Fletcher had very little to do when Mahendra Singh Dhoni & Co were being milked inside the ground, while few others were of the opinion that he was at fault when it came to strategising in those conditions -- which wasn't alien to him.


Duncan Fletcher during a net session at Old Trafford on Tuesday.
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Opinions and counter opinions after the 0-4 shellacking in the Tests will continue till India mange to turn the tide. But professionals can't take that into heart and keep on doing post-mortem when there's another mission is round the corner -- ODIs.

So now as a true professional, Fletcher should go back to the drawing board and urge the players to forget the abysmal show of the last month. "Exactly! He should tell the players to start afresh and make a statement in the one-dayers. That's the maximum that can be achieved now," was what former India coach and opener Anshuman Gaekwad felt.

But after the lessons learnt the hard way in the longer version, the Indians need to chalk out a plan on the do's and don'ts. That is exactly where the English coach would play a crucial role. "He should tell his batsmen to try and play out all the 50 overs and they shouldn't keep in mind any target as such," Gaekwad told the MiD DAY.

Playing the full quota of 50 overs is a bare necessity at the moment and as Gaekwad feels the batsmen should frame the way they want to go about. "It's the batsmen who should carry on for the full 50 overs and not the bowlers as we have seen in the Tests."

Being world champions, they naturally have the odds in their favour and that should serve as a motivation while inching towards a clinical finish. The clich ufffd "all is well that ends well" must be the mantra of the dressing room. The three wins in the warm-up games - against Sussex, Kent and Leicestershire - will surely help the young turks, Rohit Sharmas and Virat Kohlis stay in positive frame of mind.

The inclusion of specialists like Sharma, Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin may give the squad a boost but expert Gaekwad begged to differ a bit. "I would have placed my bet for the Indians had the series been played in India, but in those conditions it will be difficult to adapt to the conditions and the vicious swing. So it won't be the same for them there," he opined.

Gaekwad was coach when India had an up and down 1999 World Cup in England. While India lost to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Australia and New Zealand, they triumphed over Kenya, defending champions Sri Lanka, hosts England and 1992 champions Pakistan.

For a comeback, the onus will mainly be on the openers -- apart from the vintage Rahul Dravid -- as they will have to tackle the swings when the ball is new. As the ball gradually loses its shine, it will be comparatively easier for the middle-order to go for their shots and pile on runs at a brisk rate.

"Yes being an opener myself, I can advise them not to go for shots from the word go and instead try and rotate the strike as much as possible to frustrate the bowlers. And also, when one batsman is playing his shots another should try and content at the other end to ensure that wickets don't fall like nine pins," the former India coach said.

Similarly for the bowlers, the approach should be to keep the English batsmen in check rather than being too aggressive. "In the Test matches, our bowlers could neither take wickets nor check the runs flowing, so here they must adopt a different tactic to counter the in-from Englishmen - frustrate them and tempt them into mindless hitting," said Gaekwad.

Now, more than anybody else, coach Fletcher has to address these issues in the backroom to get back on track and do justice to his reputation and remuneration as well.