Looking at India's 5 previous coaches and rummaging through their tenures

#5 Duncan Fletcher (2011-2015)

Duncan Fletcher could have had a more fulfilling tenure

After the departure of Gary Kirsten, BCCI appointed Duncan Fletcher as the Indian head coach. Fletcher had come into the Indian fold with great raps after having coached England to the 2005 Ashes glory.

The Zimbabwean assumed charge on April 2011. India at that time was the number 1 Test Team and was touring England. What followed was a disastrous 4-0 whitewash, and the number 1 ranking was surrendered.

There was some respite in the next series as West Indies toured India which the hosts won 2-0. It saw the emergence of R Ashwin as a formidable off-break bowler.

The woes overseas continued as India suffered another humiliating 4-0 whitewash against Australia. After the tour, Indian cricket stalwarts VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid retired.

A visit by New Zealand followed which India won comfortably 2-0. The next generation of batsmen took centre stage as Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara came into their own.

This was followed by a home series against England and after a bright start in Ahmedabad, the hosts went down 2-1 to the visitors on pitches which were tailor made to suit the Indian spinners.

However, the Indian spinner and the Indian team got their acts together and hammered the visiting Australian team 4-0, for the very first time in their history.

And then came the poignant series against the West Indies. This was the farewell series of Sachin Tendulkar. India won the series 2-0 with absolute conviction as Sachin bid the game adieu.

There was some solace overseas as a battling team fought very hard against South Africa as they were finally defeated 1-0 in an evenly matched series.

India once again came close as they toured New Zealand. They almost won the Auckland Test chasing courtesy a Shikhar Dhawan century. Chasing an improbable target of 407, the young Indian team lost by 40 runs. They once again came close to a win, but a herculean 302 by Brendon McCullum thwarted the challenge. The match was drawn and India lost the series 1-0.

On what would be his final tour in charge, India won the match at Lords on a green pitch, but then squandered the lead to go down 3-1 in the 5-match series. The quest for an overseas win stretched to almost 3 years.

All in all, it was a tenure which could have been better had few matches gone India's way. However, he was a widely respected figure around the squad.