Coach decided, BCCI wants Virat Kohli’s nod
The BCCI deferred naming the chief coach for the senior India cricket team. What turned out to be an anti-climax of sorts, Sourav Ganguly of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) told reporters on Monday that they were in “no hurry” to name Anil Kumble’s replacement.
Five candidates were interviewed. Virender Sehwag, who was the only one who turned up personally, spent close to an hour with the high-profile CAC that also has VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar as members. The panel had dramatically named Kumble as head coach in June last year.
Two foreign coaches --- Tom Moody and Richard Pybus --were also interviewed by the panel.
West Indian aspirant Phil Simmons wasn’t interviewed. Lalchand Rajput is the third Indian in fray. The postponement will come as a setback for Ravi Shastri, who was being tipped to become the head coach again. Shastri, apparently a Virat Kohli favourite, was interviewed on Skype. Last year, too, Shastri had skipped a front-tofront interview with the CAC.
Not turning up personally for the chief coach’s job was one of the factors that went against Shastri. The former all-rounder and Ganguly were involved a bitter war of words.
On Monday at the BCCI’s Cricket Centre, Ganguly said the committee wanted to speak to Kohli before arriving at a decision. “Everyone must be on the same page,” said Ganguly. “We will need a few more days,” he added. It is clear that Shastri was not an automatic choice.
BCCI said the process of selecting the head coach had been completed. If the length of interview is an indication, Sehwag will be a favourite, but equations can change. Shastri was the favourite to win back his position. He was team director for two years (2014-16). He did not get an automatic extension last year and Kumble, a late entrant, was named coach for a year.
Kumble’s contract expired at the end of the Champions Trophy final where India were mauled by Pakistan. Apparently, the CAC and BCCI officials failed to strike a compromise between Kohli and Kumble during the Champions Trophy.
Shastri did not apply for the coach’s job when the BCCI first advertised on June 1. After Kumble withdrew from the race of becoming coach on June 20 and the BCCI advertised for fresh candidates on June 23, Shastri jumped in.
Kumble refused to carry on as chief coach after reports of a ‘rift’ with Kohli emerged. Kumble, during whose coaching tenure India won 12 Tests to become the No 1 Test side, expressed shock that the team did not like his presence in the dressing room.
Kohli and some teammates were unhappy with Kumble’s ways of handling the team and complained to the BCCI mandarins. The captain and coach were hardly on talking terms during the Champions Trophy.
Sanjay Bangar, who stepped in as coach on the tour of West Indies, could continue for the tour of Sri Lanka, beginning July 26.
Virat will need to understand how coaches operate. At the same time, you have to give credit to Kohli that he has stayed out of the coach selection process. We will have a chat with him once he is back from West Indies. SOURAV GANGULY, On selection of India coach