5 great players who coached teams outside their country 

It is often said that great players do not always make great coaches and while that has proven to be largely correct as far as cricket coaching is concerned, there have been some notable exceptions.

Most cricket coaches have been former cricketers in their younger days, but very few truly great players have gone into coaching and in addition to that, even fewer have coached outside their country.

Being the coach of the national team of a country that is not one's own is a far bigger challenge.

The coach has to understand the cricketing structure of the country, the culture, the expectations of the cricket boards and above all, needs to be wary of that fact that almost all his moves will be judged by the media.

Let's take a look at 5 great former cricketers who took up this challenge.

#5 Dean Jones

When Australian cricket was going through its great churn in the mid-1980s, Dean Jones was one of its shining lights and one of the leading batsmen in the world.

Jones primarily worked as a commentator and talking head for television channels since his retirement, but in 2016 he took a massive leap by getting into coaching with Pakistan Super League side Islamabad United.

The team ended up as champions under his guidance and that remains his biggest success as a coach. Despite his relative inexperience, he has the reputation of being a shrewd thinker and is in fact called 'Professor Deano'.

Earlier this month, Jones was appointed as the coach of the Afghanistan cricket team on a temporary basis and it remains to be seen whether this late career switch turns out to be a successful one or not.

#4 Inzamam-ul-Haq

Inzamam ul Haq

Former Pakistan batting legend Inzamam-ul-Haq is not only one of the greatest batsmen that his nation has produced but also one of the finest batsmen to have ever played the game and his brief coaching stint with the Afghanistan cricket team was a successful one.

Although Inzamam's coaching experience was restricted to that of Pakistan's batting coach for the tour to India in 2013, his decision to work with a relatively young cricketing nation was a bold step and under his stewardship, the team played some brilliant cricket on their tour to Zimbabwe in 2015.

Afghanistan won the One-Day International series as well as the T20 series, and it was without a doubt Inzamam's biggest accomplishment as a coach. He was in charge during their World T20 captain as well, and took the team to the Super 10. They beat eventual champions West Indies in the tournament.

However, Inzamam stepped down after the event, even though his contract ran until the end of 2016. He went into cricket administration and was appointed as Pakistan's chief selector.

#3 Courtney Walsh

Courtney WalshThe Bangladesh cricket team needed a coach who could hone the considerable talents of their young crop of fast bowlers that emerged over the past few years, and the appointment of the former West Indian great Courtney Walsh as their bowling coach in 2016 was a visionary move.

In that regard, it is also important to point out that Walsh, despite being one of the greatest fast bowlers of his era, had no coaching experience when he was appointed and hence his decision to move to Bangladesh was without a doubt a courageous one.

He may have taken the easier route by coaching a domestic side or any of the teams in the Caribbean Premier League before graduating into international cricket, however, Walsh went out of his comfort zone to take on the Bangladesh project. The home Test series draws (both 1-1) against England and Australia are two of his biggest achievements. His contract runs till 2019.

#2 Andy Flower

Andy Flower

After his international career as one of Zimbabwe's finest batsman ended soon after the 2003 World Cup, due to his stand against the country's President Robert Mugabe, Andy Flower soon turned to coaching. Having already played Country Cricket in England, Flower was appointed as the England cricket team's assistant coach in 2007 and two years later he became the head coach. He had no previous coaching experience. Although the enduring legacy of around 5 years of Flower's reign will be the 2013-14 Ashes in Australia in which England were humiliated 5-0, it should not be forgotten that he was also responsible for the team's rapid rise and the climb to the top of the ICC Test rankings. In that period, England won three Ashes series, including the 3-1 win Down Under in 2010-11 and the 2010 World T20 in the West Indies. The Ashes series win in Australia was perhaps Flower's finest hour. As far as sporting success is concerned, very few coaches, leave alone former greats, have gone on to achieve such success as an overseas coach.

#1 Gary Kirsten

After India's exit from the 2007 World Cup in the first round and the resultant end of Greg Chappell's tumultuous reign as national team coach soon after, the team had no coach for quite a long time.

In 2008, one of the finest openers of the 1990s and the early-to-mid-noughties, Gary Kirsten of South Africa was appointed as the full-time coach. During his time as the coach, India's record improved in all formats of the game and performances in Test cricket improved considerably.

He complemented captain MS Dhoni well, and helped India reach the top of the ICC Test rankings. In fact, Dhoni had remarked that Kirsten was the best thing to have happened to the national team.

Kirsten fine-tuned the technique of many batsmen and worked behind the scenes without hogging the limelight, unlike his predecessor. His tenure ended with one of the Indian cricket's (and his own) greatest moments when they won the Cricket World Cup in 2011 after a 28-year wait.

He could have continued as the coach, but he stepped down from the post to be closer to his family.