No high profile name in contention for Team India’s head coach post as BCCI receives over 2000 applications

There has been a lot of talks surrounding the post of head coach of the Indian cricket team since India’s heartbreaking exit from the ICC World Cup 2019 semi-finals. Some of the former cricketers and fans had called for a new head coach for the Men in Blue. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) invited fresh applications for the posts of head coach, batting coach, bowling coach, fielding coach, physiotherapist, strength and conditioning coach and administrative manager. The national governing body for cricket in India has received over 2,000 applications on the coach requirements but no big names have applied for the post of head coach. The current coaching staff consisting the likes of Ravi Shastri, Sanjay Bangar, Bharat Arun and R Sridhar would get an automatic entry in the selection process.

In what could be the turning point of the entire process, none out of the 2000 applicants are big names who could challenge Shastri’s spot. Names of former Australian player Tom Moody and former New Zealand coach Mike Hesson are surfacing with the likes of Lalchand Rajput and Robin Singh also running for the lucrative job of the head coach of the Indian cricket team.

Earlier, the name of former Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene came out as a leading contender for Shastri’s chair but according to a report, the current coach of Indian Premier League (IPL) side Mumbai Indians (MI) is not among those who have applied for the position. According to the report, agents and managers have sent the profiles of the aspirants and the BCCI may take more time to shortlist the important candidates.

Former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes is one of the big names who is vying for the fielding coach position. The deadline for sending the applications ended on Tuesday and the process of shortlisting the final names has already started.

The BCCI CEO Rahul Johri has already written to the newly former Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) to submit a declaration regarding the conflict of interest so that the process for the coach of the Indian team can start as soon as possible, a BCCI source told ANI. The Kapil Dev-led interim CAC will carry out the process of selecting Team India’s head coach. Anshuman Gaekwad and Shantha Rangaswamy are the other members of the interim panel. The interviews are expected to take place on August 14 and 15.

Should Shastri remain as the head coach of the Indian cricket team or should the CAC select a new face despite big names not applying for the post? With no big-name applying for the post, the entire selection process could end up being a dilemma for the Kapil Dev-led CAC as the head coach selection process takes a fresh turn.