Language will not be a barrier, says Stuart Law

Former Australia batsman Stuart Law, who has applied for the Team India head coach’s post, believes language will not be a barrier, if he is given an opportunity. In its advertisement, the BCCI had mentioned: “Communication skills befitting the coach of an international team are mandatory along with the ability to effectively convey the right messages and must demonstrate proficiency in English. It is desirable to communicate in Hindi and other regional Indian languages,” and added: “By no means mandatory.”

Law, who had previously worked with Asian teams such as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, said his experience of working with the sub-continental teams had helped him learn how to pick up the mood of a conversation and determine the feelings of the group or individual by observation.

“Majority of the words used to talk about cricket are English, so it can be a little easier to communicate to players who aren’t comfortable in speaking English. It can also be an advantage to have a local as support staff to help get a message across in the language known to the player concerned,” said the 48-year-old, adding that it was an honour to be named as one of the contenders for the top job.