Mumbai: A top BCCI official on Monday made it clear that the decision to select Team India’s new coach will be solely the Cricket Advisory Committee’s call and neither the captain nor the BCCI would interfere.
“Virat Kohli may have expressed his desire to have Ravi Shastri in the job but it will be purely a decision of the CAC. We will not fulfill captain Kohli’s wish,” he said.
The official admitted that at present only three candidates were in the race.
“The new coach is likely to be one of these three — Ravi Shastri, Virender Sehwag or Tom Moody,” he said.
The last date for receiving the applications is July 9 and the members of the committee are meeting the next day.
“It will be up to the committee to decide whether to invite all applicants for the interview or if not then whom to invite...”.
So far none of the three applicants who had previously put in their CVs (on the BCCI’s first advertisement) have heard from the CAC or the BCCI, this reporter has confirmed after speaking to each of them individually.
Meanwhile, Shastri formally applied for the position of head coach, making him the front-runner for the high-profile job.
A senior BCCI official told a wire agency that Shastri had submitted his application well ahead of the July 9 deadline.
The interviews will be conducted the following day by the Cricket Advisory Committee comprising Sourav Ganguly, V.V.S. Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar.
Another notable application was that of former West Indies opener Phil Simmons, who has also coached the Caribbean team apart from Ireland and Afghanistan (as a consultant).
Shastri, who served as India team director from August 2014 to June 2016, shares a healthy rapport with the players noteably captain Kohli.
It remains to be seen how the CAC will consider Shastri's case considering Ganguly backed Anil Kumble over the former India all-rounder when the coach was picked last year.
Irrespective of who gets the job, it will be big shoes to fill in considering the fact that the team did well under Kumble.
