NEW DELHI: With the deadline for submitting of applications for the post of Team India Coach ending, former opener Virender Sehwag has entered the fray. This happened even as the panel of legends, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, that chose Anil Kumble for the job was tasked with trying to salvage the relationship between the coach and skipper Virat Kohli.
Ex-Australia all-rounder Tom Moody, and former Pakistan and Bangladesh coach Ri chard Pybus, who is now director of cricket for the West Indies, are learnt to have applied for the job. Ex-India pacer Dodda Ganesh and former India A coach Lalchand Rajput are also believed to be in the fray.
BCCI had set May 31 as the deadline for applications. Given that the committee of administrators (CoA) has decided to strictly follow rules, it is unlikely that any more applications will be entertained. Former Team India director Ravi Shastri, whom the squad is believed to favour, has not applied for the job of Team India Coach, which means he is effectively out of the equation. Shastri had a bitter spat with Sourav Ganguly when he lost out on the job to Kumble last time and it is understood that he will only take the position if it is offered to him.
Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman are heading to the United Kingdom where Ganguly, the other member of the three-member cricket advisory committee that will look into the selection of Team India’s coach, is busy doing commentary .
The three retired India stalwarts will have the uncomfortable task of trying to mediate between two assertive individuals, Kohli and Kumble.There are already murmurs that this could set a dangerous precedent. “If it’s so obvious that the two can’t get along then what’s the point forcing them to work together?” an official in the know of developments said.
Kumble has had a very successful stint as coach, with India winning 12 and losing just one of the 17 Tests in which he has been in charge. He would ordinarily have been expected to get an automatic extension, if not for Kohli’s views, which BCCI refuses to make public.
