Review: Coaching Beyond

Coaching Beyond is a tribute to the lesser acknowledged aspect of the sport - fielding. In a game that is increasingly becoming batter dominated, fielding as a craft remains under-appreciated. This book aims to change that.

The writing is a major disappointment. It felt like reading an 188-page article, with not much prose and style. It's an easy read but lacks cohesiveness and character.

Picture Source: Lakshit Singhal/Cricket Field Chronicles

Sridhar talks about a lot of things, such as the no. 4 debacle going into the 2019 WC. But he does so only on a surface level without delving into the details. Seems like this is a conscious attempt by the author to avoid any controversy. But in that process he fails to capture the attention of the readers.

In many places he also tends to ignore the issues that have been plaguing Indian cricket. For example in one chapter he mentions that the Shastri- Kohli era was determined by how the duo removed pitch and the conditions out of the equation but in another chapter while discussing the WTC final he mentions that that conditions were more favourable to New Zealand than to India. This comes across as conflicting writing which is one of the reasons I wasn't able to connect with the book.

What I enjoyed reading though were the anecdotes about cricketers and the unknown stories from the series that Sridhar was himself a part of. Be it Thakur's boldness to ignore Ravi's message and convey his own message to the batters during the BGT 2021. Or Rahane’s tough crack on Prithvi Shaw while the latter was trying to manufacture an injury just to avoid being on the field.

He also shares how Shastri backed Shami during his tough times and helped him make a strong comeback. Some of the stories about Shastri as the coach are hilarious.

It is also a self-help book in many ways. Sridhar talks about man-management skills, leadership, team bonding and communication. This might appeal to some but didn't work for me.

All in all, Coaching Beyond was a slightly underwhelming read for me.

Get your copy here: https://amzn.to/4jQudyG

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