Mumbai: Brisbane-based John Buchanan, Test cricket's most successful coach ever (69 wins and no more than 10 losses), spoke to The Telegraph in the lead-up to Monday’s meeting of the Cricket Advisory Committee to identify Anil Kumble’s successor as India’s head coach.

Buchanan, 64, was phenomenally successful in ODIs too - 160 wins as opposed to 46 losses.   

Excerpts...

Q Did you follow the Virat Kohli-Kumble controversy?

A Not much, as very little was available in the media here, in Australia.

What did you make of whatever you got to know?

Struck me as possibly being similar to the Michael Clarke-Darren Lehmann affair. That combination seemed to work well in the initial stages and then soured for whatever reason(s). The individuals alone could outline what brought about a distancing of the relationship.

[Clarke accused Lehmann of wanting the “power to shake things up and run the team” his way, thereby diluting the captain’s position. Lehmann, to no one’s surprise, denied that outright.]

Possible reasons?

In general, it could have been because both captain and coach disagreed on how to achieve the goals set for the team, not necessarily the goals themselves. Could also have been because of role clarity — whose role is it to be the main person responsible and accountable for taking the team forward?

Should two strong personalities be placed together in the same dressing room?

Yes, of course, they should. Often, the dressing room is made up of very strong personalities. The presence of strong personalities leads to tension, conflict, debate and discussion. It’s very healthy, if managed correctly, to enhance the culture of the team and the team’s performance. However, if the captain and coach have a different view  on allowing that conflict and, then, on how to manage it for the benefit of the group, it leads to a very uneasy and non-united dressing room.

What if such a situation arises?

In most cases, the playing group will side with the captain, not the coach.

Do you think the absence of leadership in the Board of Control for Cricket in India contributed to the Kohli-Kumble mess?

I’m not aware of what’s happening in your Board, so will not comment.

Were you reminded of the Sourav Ganguly-Greg Chappell flare-up, back in 2005?

No. As I’ve said, I was reminded of the Clarke-Lehmann affair.

Actually, you too had differences with Sourav during your years with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)...

Sourav, I and the KKR owners were all in agreement with the vision for KKR... Sourav and I, however, disagreed on on-field matters... I believed certain players in KKR, Sourav included, were not suited to the new format. The T20 game had effectively gone past the skill set they had to offer. Sourav and, eventually, the owners disagreed with my view and my tenure as coach finished. I knew it was a major call to ask Sourav to step aside from the captaincy and look to play another role in the franchise. But, as coach, I felt it was my responsibility and, ultimately accountability, to make unpopular decisions. I looked at the best interests of the franchise and the owners. The risk is that the coach may not be able to sell the message to the owners — the Indian Board in Kumble’s case — and to convince them. While there may be initial pain and disruption, such steps are crucial to achieving the long-term vision.

[Sourav was replaced by Brendon McCullum in the second year of the IPL, 2009. The franchise fared badly and Buchanan lost his job. Sourav came back as the KKR captain in 2010, but wasn’t retained even as a player the next year. Gautam Gambhir has been captaining from 2011.]

You worked with two powerful captains, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting. Were there issues between you and any one of them?

I had an extremely good working relationship with both Steve and Ricky. To this day, I’m able to connect with them on any matter. Of course, it’s not that we did not have our differences at various times. However, we would talk issues through or, because of the huge respect we had for each other, we would back each other’s judgement. Not that there may not have been disagreement on how the other person was going about it.

Quite remarkable...

We respected each other.

Specifically, how did you go about working with Waugh and Ponting?

I tried to keep them informed of everything I was thinking and doing. I tried not to provide them with surprises which would either compromise their position as captain or display disrespect for the person and the position. I wanted to give them every opportunity to be the best leader they could be. Also, to provide them with the best team they could lead. I tried, wherever possible, to remove pressures of the game that could prevent them from doing what they needed to do.

What do you see the coach’s role as?

I see the coach as the guide and navigator of the team ship. At the same time, he/she is the educator, the manager, the leader, the counsellor, the parent and the judge for different situations that occur between individuals within the broad group. That would include other coaches, support staff and administrators. Such situations occur on a regular basis within a dynamic group. Players, including captains sometimes, come and go due to issues of selection, injuries, formats and retirements. So, there needs to be a central person who keeps an eye on everything that affects a team’s ability to perform consistently and to get results. There also needs to be a central person who understands the vision of the team and who may have been instrumental in shaping it.

You mean the head coach or coach?

Yes. That central person scans the horizon for dangers and risks in achieving the vision, as well as scanning the horizon for opportunities to enhance the pursuit of the vision, like better use of technology.

Is there a line the coach must not cross?

There is... Every coach will know that line... There’s a line for specific situations... Coaching is all about relationships and trying to strengthen them all the time, no matter how strong or weak they may be.

Isn’t the captain always the boss?

In teams that I coached, I wanted everyone to be a leader... At a specific moment in time during a game, or at training, or even off the field, I wanted the individuals to make very good decisions for themselves and, therefore, for the team... Personally, I worked to establish a leadership culture that recognised there are formal roles such as captain, coach, team manager, selector... However, the formal roles should not deter individuals from leading the team at any moment through very good decision making.

Finally... If you had a role to play in selecting India’s next head coach, what would you do?

I’d go for a person of vision and one whose values and principles are beyond reproach. Beyond that, he should be able to gather and retain the respect of all those with whom he works.