Rudi Webster offers discount on his expensive service but will be given only a temporary place.
Rudi Webster offers discount on his expensive service but will be given only a temporary place.
MUMBAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India has acceded to the Indian team management’s demand to hire a sports psychologist and decided to engage Dr Rudi Webster, a West Indian.
Webster will spend 36 days, in a staggered programme of three schedules, with the Indian team till the start of the World Cup.
BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah confirmed the appointment on Monday and said Webster would join the team soon, “surely before the Champions Trophy.” Shah sent the proposal to BCCI president Sharad Pawar on Monday for ratification.
The approval for hiring Webster came after intense deliberations between the team management and the board, whose opposition was based as much on social considerations as on financial. “A psychologist staying with the players is not a healthy sign,” a top official remarked.
The other objection stemmed from the psychologist’s high fee. For the seven days he spent with the Indians this summer in the West Indies, he charged $7,000 (about Rs3,25,000).
Team coach Greg Chappell and captain Rahul Dravid are, however, believed to have pushed hard for Webster, who is credited with turning India’s fortunes around in the West Indies. After being thrashed in the ODIs, the team bounced back to dominate the Tests.
Webster’s illustrious clients include Vivian Richards, Brian Lara and golfer Greg Norman. Chappell himself also had sessions with the psychologist in his playing days.
Shah sorted out the matter after talking to the captain and the coach in Kuala Lumpur. Under the current arrangement, of the proposed 36 days, the 65-year-old West Indian will spend 10 days with the team before the Champions Trophy in India; 12 days during a tri-series in the country early next year; and in the 14-day build-up to the World Cup.
He will arrive in India early next month and stay with the team from October 5 to 15, when India take on England in Jaipur.
Shah refused to give details of the remuneration, but it is learnt that Webster has given the board some concession, agreeing to render 36 days of service for $30,000 (about Rs13,85,000).
In Kuala Lumpur, Chappell said: “I am pleased that Dr Webster will join us.”
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