India appoint Fletcher as coach

World Cup winners India have appointed former England boss Duncan Fletcher as coach on a two-year contract.

The 62-year-old succeeds South African Gary Kirsten and becomes their fourth successive foreign coach.

Fletcher won a record eight consecutive Tests for England in 2004 before guiding the team to a long overdue Ashes success in 2005.

England coach Andy Flower was the Indian board's first choice but he was unwilling to uproot his family.

Former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming, now coaching Indian Premier League side Chennai Super Kings, was another possible candidate.

But it is thought Flower, also from Zimbabwe, was always reluctant having settled in England. Fleming was viewed as a long shot, and had publicly distanced himself from the role.

Michael Vaughan, the former England captain who formed a close bond with Fletcher during their most successful period, tweeted: "Great coach who will work well with [India captain Mahendra] Dhoni.

"Duncan will work well with all the talent. His biggest challenge will come from the media. He has never really understood how it works."

Fletcher's first major assignment with India, the number one Test side, will come when they tour England from mid-July for the summer's eagerly awaited tour. It features Tests at Lord's, Trent Bridge, Edgbaston and The Oval, plus one Twenty20 international and five one-day internationals.

Leading up to that is an Indian tour of the West Indies in June, featuring one Twenty20 international, five one-day internationals and three Tests. Fletcher may not be involved in that.

"He may not join the team in the West Indies as he has some prior commitments," Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary, N Srinivasan, said.

New Zealand's former Test captain John Wright was the first man from overseas to take the job regarded as the most heavily scrutinised in cricket.

Wright was in the post between 2000 and 2005 before ex-Australia skipper Greg Chappell took over for two years.

After the 2007 World Cup, India had no full-time coach, relying on specialist bowling and fielding coaches instead. That ended when Kirsten, a former South African batsman closely mentored by Fletcher at Western Province, took over in March 2008.

Former India spinner Maninder Singh believes the appointment of Fletcher is a good one.

"I played a bit of cricket with him and he was a very intelligent cricketer," Singh told the BBC. "He has done wonders with English cricket.

"But I think he will have to be careful when he comes to coaching the Indian team because in India it is better that the coach is there in the background instead of trying to come in front.

"He will have to do what Gary Kirsten and John Wright did, keep talking to the boys, keep encouraging the boys and I think he could do wonders with them because there is a lot of talent in India.

"He will have to work with the younger boys in the team. They are a very talented lot but somewhere down the line they are not able to perform consistently when playing international cricket."

Fletcher, who was honoured with an OBE after England's 2005 Ashes win over Australia, is known for picking players on hunches rather than on statistical achievements - a notable example being the highly successful Somerset opener Marcus Trescothick.

But he is also known not to suffer fools gladly, and Graeme Swann famously made only one appearance under his regime, Fletcher feeling the off-spinner was a loose cannon.

Eric Simons, who was India's bowling coach during Kirsten's tenure, will continue in his role and is likely to enjoy a good relationship with Fletcher through their Western Province links.

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Shane Warne wants to coach India

Shane Warne has indicated that he would like to take over as India's coach following the departure of Gary Kirsten.

Kirsten stepped down from the role after leading India to their second World Cup title in Mumbai.

Warne is in India as he prepares for the upcoming Indian Premier League where he is captain-coach of the Rajasthan Royals. He earned plaudits for guiding the unfancied franchise to the inaugural IPL title three years ago and, while it remains his only coaching role, he has been touted as a potential India coach before.

"It is a very difficult job to be India coach, it is never easy," Warne told the Mail Today newspaper.

"But with India doing so well, it is a lot easier to take over right now than it has been in the past. I'd enjoy working with the Indian cricket team for sure."

Warne admitted whoever does take over the role faces a tough act to follow after Kirsten led India to their World Cup success as well as establishing them as the number one ranked Test side.

"He [Kirsten] is a quality person and it would be hard to find a replacement for him. He is a fantastic coach."

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India v Pakistan: Umar Gul targets India's 'crucial' top three

The Pakistan fast bowler Umar Gul has promised to meet fire with fire in Wednesday's World Cup semi-final with India. Led by captain Shahid Afridi, Pakistan's attack has been a potent weapon on their run to the last four but their sternest test so far awaits them in Mohali when they encounter the most accomplished batting line-up at the tournament.

India's explosive opening duo of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag have combined for 721 runs so far, while 341 runs from the bat of Yuvraj Singh and 269 from Gautam Gambhir adds to the threat to the Pakistan attack.

However, Pakistan showed their teeth to the full in their quarter-final demolition of West Indies, dismissing their opponents for just 112 before easing to victory by 10 wickets. "India's batting line-up is very strong but our bowling is very good and equally up to the task," said Gul, who has taken 14 wickets in the tournament, seven fewer than his captain.

"Afridi is the leading wicket-taker. We have a bit of an advantage with our bowling but I am happy with the way the batsmen played in the quarter-final," continued Gul, who has set his sights on the early scalps of Tendulkar, Sehwag and Gambhir if Pakistan are to have a realistic chance of victory.

"The first three wickets are very crucial for us. They are depending on the top three," he said. "I am in good form and am looking for these three wickets."

Pakistan have never defeated India in a World Cup match and Gul concedes the stakes could not be higher: "Whether it is a knockout match or a league match, any match against India is a big match always, a high-pressure match," he said. "The last time we played here, we chased 327 but it depends on how the wicket behaves. The average good score here will be 270-280."

The experienced Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal is also expecting amomentous struggle in front of 30,000 partisan Indian fans. "It's a huge match for everyone, the players, the fans, everyone involved in it," he said. "A World Cup semi-final can only be surpassed in one-day cricket by the World Cup final itself. The added spice to the occasion of course is that the opponents are India and that the match is in India itself.

"For the Australian and English players the Ashes is a big series and for Indian and Pakistani players, the matches against your arch-rivals have a special meaning. The whole world will be watching and following the match and it should be a fantastic occasion. These are the sort of matches that you look forward to playing in and dream about."

After so many negative headlines in recent months, Ajmal is delighted the Pakistan team has managed to put together a strong showing on the game's biggest stage.

"We knew that many had written us off before the tournament and said that we would make it to the quarter-finals at best," he said. "We wanted to prove those people wrong and the best way to do that was to let our cricket do the talking. We won our group, we beat Sri Lanka, we defeated Australia but the job is only half done yet, we want to go further in this tournament."

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