Courtesy: Express IndiaSatrajit Lahiri is aware of what the word ‘coach’ exactly means. The 39-year old former Ranji Trophy batsman — he played for Tripura from 1991 to 1998 and turned up for East Zone in the 1996-97 Deodhar Trophy — recently earned a double distinction unique in eastern India’s cricket history.
He became the state’s first ever Ranji Trophy elite panel umpire to also complete the National Cricket Academy’s (NCA) coveted Level III coaching degree, at Bangalore. The twin distinction apart, Lahiri also boasts of the Level III coaching degree that he picked up from the English & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) last year.
When Lahiri is umpiring, how hard would it be for him to restrain the coach in him? If the batsman gets beaten outside the off-stump and the bowler starts appealing, would the umpire first tell the batsman that he needs to move his feet a bit and then turn to the bowler and say that it is not-out? If the bowler is chucking, would Lahiri correct the bowler's action right there and then tell him that it is a no-ball? If he feels that the fielding captain is not attacking enough, would he ask the skipper to place a slip and a foward-shortleg?
I know Lahiri is a professional and he would know exactly how to separate the umpire from the coach, but it does make you wonder. Doesn't it?
Labels: Coaches, Satrajit Lahiri, Umpires
