What improvement has Duncan Fletcher brought to the Indian team?

It was not the best of starts for Duncan Fletcher as the coach of the Indian Cricket Team. Taking over after the world cup triumph at home meant the Zimbabwean had a hard act to follow, as he was about to take the place of Gary Kirsten. But the spate of defeats during his tenure mean the former England coach has sullied his record to a great extent. Most of the young Indian players are said to be not so comfortable with the 65- year-old. With the senior players having ended their careers, Fletcher has had a tough job. He toured with the Indian Cricket Team to England, where he witnessed the Indian Team losing the test series by 4-0 under his mentorship. Situation didn’t improve in the ODI Series, as India faced a 3-0 series loss to England. Things were going pretty well when India was playing at home, as they clean swept England in a 5 match ODI series and defeated West Indies by 4-1 in the next ODI series. But, Fletcher was finding it really hard to adjust to the environment of the Indian dressing room, and this was evident whenever India was going on a foreign tour. Next to follow was India’s tour Down Under, where India was humiliated by the Australian Team, thereby leading to their 2nd test series whitewash (a 4-0 defeat) for the Indian Team in 6 months, and failed to impress in the ODI tri-series as well.
Duncan Fletcher has had many ups and downs throughout his tenure as Team India’s Coach. But he has played an important role in building up the team when it was in a transition stage. From the team which won the ICC World Cup 2011 (at the home soil), to the team which won the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 (in England), the Indian Team has transformed in the most appropriate manner, and Duncan Fletcher is the driving force behind this transformation. Apart from the success in the shorter format of the game, Duncan Fletcher has also been phenomenal in executing his strategies when it comes to India’s matches at the home soil. His records as a coach are highlighted by the clean sweeps by India against New Zealand (a 2-0 test series win in 2012) and against Australia (a 4-0 test series win in 2013). The mentorship of Duncan Fletcher has led to the recent rise of the star players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra jadeja, etc. The young players have gotten used to Fletcher’s style of leadership, and things are just getting better for the Indian Cricket now.
With the New and Young Indian Team gaining confidence in all the formats of the game, Duncan Fletcher is expected to perform much more efficiently in the future, and help India in reclaiming the top spot in the ICC Test and ODI rankings. Even though the recent tours of South Africa and ODI Series in New Zealand have not been the best, the Indian Cricket Team is still expected to bounce back in the Test Series against New Zealand, and lay a firm foundation for itself for the next year’s World Cup.