Newly-elected Board of Control for Cricket in India president Anurag Thakur, on Sunday, said the Board will advertise for the post of the coach of the Indian team.
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Ravi Shastri’s tenure as the team director ended earlier this year along with the support staff including batting coach Sanjay Bangar, bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar. Rahul Dravid’s name has been doing the rounds with former cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar openly advocating for the former captain to take over as the next coach.
However, Thakur, who took over as the BCCI chief on Sunday, said the Board want to advertise for the post so all interested candidates can throw their hat in the ring.
“We will advertise for the post of coach today, and by June 10 anyone who is willing to take up post of coach can apply to the BCCI. The candidate will be finalised after that.
“I would like to put it on record that Mr Ravi Shastri and other support staff have done a good job in the past and the team has performed well under their leadership,” he said in Mumbai.
“If you have to go for the best you can’t go with limited choices. So we are keeping it open. We want people to come who are interested. They can come forward, apply for the post and then we can look at the proposals, who are the applicants and who could be the best for BCCI,” Thakur added.
It is likely that the Indian team will have a temporary coach for next month’s limited overs tour of Zimbabwe, but the BCCI is hoping to finalise the head coach before the tour of the West Indies in July-August.
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The selected coach will get a three-year contract till the 50-overs World Cup in 2019 as was the case with the previous coach Duncan Fletcher, whose term ended after the World Cup last year.
The BCCI chief said everyone including the likes of Shastri, who finished his term recently, can also apply for the job and a committee will be formed in due course once the applications are screened to finalise the coach.
“It is open for everyone -- whether the current support staff, or from outside of India or within India, anyone who is keen to be a coach with the Indian team or take other responsibilities -- bowling, batting, fielding coach or the head coach -- all these position would be available,” he said.
Interestingly, Thakur revealed that the BCCI is also considering sending a chef with the team for the tour of West Indies.
“We will also make sure during the West Indies tour, where food is a constraint, we will send a chef if we need to, to take care of the vegetarians in the team,” he said.
