Sehwag top name for India coach’s job

Virender Sehwag on Thursday became the most notable applicant for the Indian cricket team's chief coach's post, which would be technically vacant when Anil Kumble's term comes to an end after the Champions Trophy.

While Kumble is an automatic entry into the process, the others in the fray are Australian Tom Moody and Englishman Richard Pybus, who has coached Pakistan earlier.

The two Indians among applicants are former fast bowler Dodda Ganesh and former India A coach Lalchand Rajput.

Moody and Rajput had applied for the chief coach's job last year also but it was Kumble, who got the nod.

However, the entry of Sehwag -- one of India's greatest ever game changer -- makes the battle for the position very interesting.One of India's biggest match-winners and a part of two- time World Cup winning team, Sehwag played 104 Tests and 251 ODIs for India scoring 8586 and 8273 runs respectively.

He doesn't have any prior coaching experience apart from mentoring IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab recently, it was the BCCI top brass that convinced him to apply for the post.

The BCCI joint secretary Amitabh Chaudhary today on record denied any rift between Kumble and captain Virat Kohli. However, the fact that a player of Sehwag's stature has applied gives enough indication that everything is not right in the Indian dressing room. Sehwag will only apply when he knows that he is a serious contender for the top job.

It will be interesting if Kumble finally appears for the interview knowing that Sehwag has applied for the post.

However many in BCCI feel that Sehwag, who is also a social media sensation, may demand an astronomical salary.