When Kohli Calls The Coach

With Ravi Shastri in the lead, the long saga of appointment of the Team India coach is drawing to a close.

- Qaiser Mohammad Ali

It’s remarkable how often sunil Gavaskar—with his immeasurable on- and off-field cricketing experience—tends to make correct predictions. Before the 1999 World Cup final, when a reporter asked him who could be Man of the Match, he said without batting an eyelid: “Shane Warne”. A correct call, of course. this week, Gavaskar predicted his former India teammate, Ravi shastri, will be the frontrunner for the post of head coach of the Indian team. We will soon know if the Little Master has got it right again, as the BCCI is set to announce the winner on July 10—also Gavaskar’s birthday.

The BCCI-appointed Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and V.V.S. Laxman, is scheduled to conduct interviews based on a possible shortlist of names that the BCCI would forward to it, and choose the chief coach for a two-year term, ending with the 50-over World Cup in 2019. But before that, there is the matter of the cricketers’ minds. BCCI CEO Rahul Johri is scheduled to be in Jamaica to discuss the matter with captain Virat Kohli and the team.

Shastri entered the fray late—much like Anil Kumble last year—only after Kumble pulled out and BCCI extended the deadline for applicants. The CAC had wanted him to continue, but Kumble quit, citing differences with Kohli.

Kumble was immensely successful as India’s coach, but his pullout has given another lease of life to Virender Sehwag, Lalchand Rajput, Tom Moody, Dodda Ganesh, and Richard Pybus—the original applicants. After the deadline extension, Shastri, and former West Indies player Phil Simmons, who last year guided Windies to the ICC World Twenty20 title and also coached Ireland, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan, have also applied for the job.