Quest for Team India coach intensifies
The Indian cricket team is without a head coach after Duncan Fletcher. The BCCI appointed former cricketer Ravi Shastri as the Team Director till the World T20 championship held in India.
When Ravi Shastri’s tenure ended, the BCCI called for applications for Team India coach post. Media reports have said that many domestic cricketers like Praveen Amre and Robin Singh and even overseas cricketers like Stuart Law and Gillespie had applied for the job.
Even the former Team Director, Ravi Shastri, chairman of selectors Sandeep Patil and the former leg-spinner and Mumbai Indians coach, Anil Kumble, have pitched in, reports say.
The BCCI received more than 50 applications and it pruned the list to 21 on June 15, 2016.
The ‘holy trinity’ of the BCCI — Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and V.V.S. Laxman, will have a tough time, along with Sanjay Jagdale, in selecting the Team India coach. The name will have to be announced before the Virat Kohli-led team embarks on a four-Test series to West Indies. June 22 will be the day.
The BCCI has laid various specifications for selection of the coach, like being able to communicate in the local language and having coached an international team.
Speculations are rife that the top contenders are Shastri, Patil and Kumble.
Despite Kumble not having coached an international team, his candidature might be looked into by Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman and Jagdale as he has coached successfully Mumbai Indians. He is also the leading wicket-taker and has held responsible positions in the Karnataka State Cricket Association and also in the ICC. Mumbai Indians have won the IPL trophy two times.
Shastri took over as Team Director when Team India was going through a rough patch. Fletcher had a miserable time coaching India. Shastri took over and had a successful run so far till the World T20 championships. Under his coaching, India reached World Cup 2015 and World T20 championships semifinals.
Patil, chairman of selectors, had coached the Kenya national side, which made history under him in 2003 by qualifying for a semifinal of the World Cup for the first time. He also replaced Dav Whatmore to become the director of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore before being named the new chief of the BCCI selection committee in 2012. He had coached India way back in 1996.
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