KOCHI: Veteran coach Dav Whatmore feels that while the T20 World Cup and the Indian Premier League may not take place this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Australian board would pull out all stops to make sure that the India-Australia series scheduled for December-January goes ahead as planned.
Most cricket boards across the world covet tours by Virat Kohli and his team, as they generate revenue and missing out on it would cost in millions of dollars.
“Whichever country India tours, they happen to bring a lot of revenue with them. So not just Australia, everybody looks forward to playing India. It would be a huge loss if the tour doesn’t go ahead. Anybody scheduled to play India will work very hard to make it happen because of the revenue that comes with it,” said Whatmore.
Australia enjoy a high standing in the sport and alongside India and England, they are the current Big Three of contemporary cricket. Some feel these three will grow in influence once cricket resumes after the crisis.
Whatmore is non-committal on how the power equations are going to be like once the pandemic is over.
“It’s really not for me to say how things will look or shape up after the pandemic. But I’m just as intrigued as anybody else to see how things are going to pan out. We have a T20 World Cup which is not going to happen, there is an IPL which is meant to be held now but is not happening. First of all, we have to be patient and wait for cricket to return,” said Whatmore.
The World Cup-winning coach was recently appointed Baroda’s director of cricket. After three seasons with Kerala, when the team enjoyed the high of reaching its first Ranji Trophy semifinal and the low of relegation, Whatmore is looking forward to a new challenge. He had a short stint with Singapore whom he guided to the Asian Cricket Council Eastern Region title in March before saying yes to the Baroda offer.
“I enjoyed the Singapore stint. Got a little bit of experience of managing an associate country. After that, the Baroda job was a vacancy that opened up and I was available. It was time for another challenge after three years with Kerala and I’m going to work hard to make sure we have some success,” said Whatmore.
He added that he is open to managing an international side if the opportunity comes along. “If international positions come up, then you consider. The opportunity has to be there.”