No setting with BCCI did not get me Team India coaching job: Virender Sehwag

New Delhi: Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag took a swipe at Team India head coach Ravi Shastri, casually insisting that he was not selected for the job role of the India coach due to no connections with the BCCI.

Sehwag was recently asked in a TV show on India Today regarding the reason for not being picked ahead of Shastri, to which he replied, “See, I didn't have any setting.”

The former India opener also revealed that he wouldn’t have applied for the job, had he known that Shastri would be applying too.

"When I was in England during the Champions Trophy, I had asked Ravi Shastri that why he hasn't applied for the post? Shastri then told me that he will not repeat the mistake which he had already made once,” Sehwag recalled.

Sehwag who coached Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League (IPL) was one of the top six applicants that applied for the post including Shastri, Tom Moody, Richard Pybus and Lalchand Rajput after Anil Kumble resigned following a bitter fallout with captain Virat Kohli.

However, the Nawab of Najafgarh also stated that he was suggested by top officials from the BCCI to give the job a try despite his disinterest.

"I never thought of coaching the Indian cricket team. I was given the offer... BCCI secretary Amitabh Choudhury and MV Sridhar came to me and requested me to think on the offer. I took my time and then applied for the position," Sehwag added.

Sehwag was one of the hot candidates for the job, but Kohli's reluctance against his application is known to have played a major part in Shastri's favoured appointment.