CAC to meet Kohli before appointing India head coach post Kumble exit
The CAC sought more time in its selection of the Team India head coach, after conducting five interviews for the post on Monday.
Mumbai: The Cricket Advisory Committee of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has held back its announcement for the new head coach of the Indian cricket team, leading up to the 2019 ICC World Cup, after Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar (via video call from London) conducted interviews at the Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai, on Monday.
The CAC, comprising of former India greats interviewed five of the candidates for the head coach role – Ravi Shastri, Virender Sehwag, Tom Moody, Lalchand Rajput and Richard Pybus.
Although former Ireland and West Indies coach Phil Simmons, who was also in the running, did not appear in the interview, either in person, or via video call, as he was unavailable, according to former India skipper Ganguly.
While reports suggested that the CAC will narrow down on their choice right after the interviews, Ganguly denied these rumours, saying that the committee will take some more time to make its choice
“We will hold on for time being for the announcement of the coach. We feel there is no hurry at the moment,” said Ganguly. “We need to talk to a few people, especially the captain (Virat Kohli).”
India were left without a coach after the end of the ICC Champions Trophy, as Anil Kumble resigned after reports of a rift with captain Virat Kohli. Speaking on the role of the captain in the appointment of the coach, Ganguly said, “Virat will also need to understand how the coaches will operate. We want the best possible thing.”
The BCCI had earlier announced that Team India will be getting its next coach ahead of their tour of Sri Lanka, which gets underway, later this month. However, with the postponement of the announcement, that looks doubtful right now.
“Will probably continue with the same set-up for some time. (We) Want to make sure everyone is in sync of the way forward. Six months down the line we shouldn't be doing something differently,” said Ganguly.
However, the former India skipper said that he was pleased with the presentation of the respective applicants: “We were very happy with all the presentations. We believe they said the same things that we had heard a year ago.”