Getting a lesson in swinging!

By John Cheeran
National selection committee chairman Dilip Vengsarkar had pronounced that the Indian team needs a bowling coach especially with the absence of a senior pro like Javagal Srinath to guide the rookies such as Munaf Patel, S Sreesanth and Imran Pathan.
Like many of Vengsarkar's comments, this too has been ignored by the Board of Control for cricket in India's bosses.
With Greg Chappell around I can't see any other cricket pundit interfering in Indian team's thought process. Many teams the world over employ these days a coach and then coaches for different aspects of the game.
England had an Australian as bowling coach when they reclaimed Ashes from Aussies at home. Pakistan had Jonty Rhodes as a coach to improve their fielding skills. India had sports psychologist Rudy Webster as a mind coach and the results were disastrous.
The point Vengsarkar raised deserves attention.
Obviously Vengsarkar wants to whittle down Chappell's authority. What better way than by getting someone as a bowling coach. Then Chappell may be could be regarded as a batting consultant to Indian team.
In fact Chappell's most famous client who got batting tips a few years ago, must be his enemy No.1 today. Ask Sourav Ganguly.
Well, in the past India had Kapil Dev and Madan Lal as coaches but I could not detect any improvement in Indian bowlers. If Vengsarkar has Indian cricket's interest at heart, he should tell Sharad Pawar to get Dennis Lillee to take charge at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.
Or any other worthy gentlemen or crook who knows a thing or two about bowling fast and slow. And I'm delighted to note that the much reviled cricket organisation in India, the Delhi and District Cricket Association, has pulled off a coup by getting Sarfraz Nawaz, the dirty trickster par excellence, from across the border.
The legendary Pakistan fast bowler, who excelled in reverse swinging the ball, is now spending time with Delhi Ranji Trophy team that include bowlers such as Ashish Nehra, Amit Bhandari, Ashish Malhotra, Mukesh Diwan, Ishant Sharma, Pradeep Sangwan and Tushar Pant. I'm told that Sarfraz has promised to transfer all his secrets to the Delhi fast bowlers before returning to Pakistan.
That would be something more explosive than Pokhran blasts and I'm afraid what would be General Mushraff's response to such high treason. If he actually does that I recommend Sarfraz's name for Bharat Ratna, the highest honour the Indian government bestows on civilians.
And you know what?
Insiders say that Sarfraz was invited to Delhi dressing room to finesse Delhi's official coach Chetan Chauhan.
Vengsarkar must be getting ideas.