Dahiya: Bhaskar Pillai should have got Delhi coach's job

The former India wicketkeeper has questioned DDCA's decision of appointing Lance Klusener as consultant coach.

Dahiya expected Bhaskar Pillai to be retained Delhi coach for this season.

Former Delhi coach Vijay Dahiya questioned Delhi District Cricket Association's (DDCA) decision to appoint Lance Klusener as its consultant coach, considering the good local talent available.

“We have to wait and see whether appointing a foreign coach as a consultant is worth it? The Vijay Hazare and the Ranji Trophy start soon and there is no word of any camp or any pre-season training,” Dahiya told Sportstar, on the side lines of the Duleep Trophy at the NPR College Ground in Natham on Thursday.

“I am personally aghast to see Bhaskar Pillai not being retained the coach. The team had reached the final of the Ranji Trophy, won the Syed Mushtaq Ali under him. What wrong has he done to not get selected?” he questioned.

Read: Sikkim clueless on Shashikanth transfer

“In my opinion, a local coach knows the players, knows the conditions and it makes sense to have a local player as the coach of a state team,” he added.

But players would love to work under a foreign coach, Dahiya interrupted and said,"Did anyone ask the players or took their opinion?"

With over 37 teams in the Ranji Trophy this year, Dahiya feels it is going to be testing for the teams. “It is not going to be easy at all. We have many new teams and new players in the fray. The season has just begun and it is going to be a huge challenge for teams to emerge successful,” he explained.

Dahiya lauded the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for trying out new things in the domestic circuit, to keep the supply chain for the next level in good stead. “The game has evolved so much. It is good to have day-night matches. The good thing about experimenting is, if it fails, you can always go back to the original version (red ball cricket),” he added.

The former India wicket-keeper said the glut of ‘A’ tours India has been playing is good for Indian cricket. “When I was watching the recently concluded quadrangular series against Australia A and South Africa A, I was amazed to see almost 10-11 players in the Australian squad having played cricket at the highest level for the county. Our players playing against them will give them excellent exposure. These tours are great to test the bench strength or the fringe players,” he added.