A few months back, Dav Whatmore was the most likely candidate to assume the reins of Indian cricket team after Greg Chappell’s resignation. But powers that be in the Board of Control for Cricket in India overlooked his claims before adopting a no-coach policy and the Whatmore-chapter seemed to have come to a close.
However, the elevation of Ravi Shastri brought a turnaround in Whatmore’s luck as the former Indian all-rounder, who always thought highly of the Australian’s abilities, approached him to be a part of the Bangalore-based National Cricket Academy on a full-time basis.
He did not need to think long to accept the offer, and on Tuesday Whatmore started his three-year stint with the NCA as its Director of Operations in his characteristic bubbly style.
Whatmore arrived at the NCA in the morning and wasted little time in roaming around the academy premises, assessing the facilities and areas that needed a facelift.
Later, Whatmore had a nearly two-hour discussion with NCA administrator Col Nair regarding the course to be taken in the future and his visions for the academy.
“It has been a good facility. It has served Indian cricket very well for the last eight years, and we hope to improve it further and make a meaningful contribution in the development of young Indian players. We hope to prepare them as well as we can for the senior international competition,” Whatmore said after winding up his first day’s proceedings.
Whatmore, however, did not divulge any details of the plans he has for the development of NCA. “Today was my first day here, and I had a good lookaround. We are in the process of finalising the programme and I had good discussion with authorities here in that aspect,” he said.
The Australian will leave for Ahmedabad on Thursday to watch the Challenger Trophy and he rated the trip as an important step in understanding more about the Indian players.