BCCI may announce India head coach on June 24 in Dharamsala

Sandeep Patil is one of the high-profile applicants

The growing suspense over the appointment of the Indian head coach might soon be over as the working committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India might announce the name on June 24 when the working committee of the board is scheduled to meet.

Sources in the BCCI still maintain that this meeting is a normal affair, but this decision will top the agenda of the meeting. This announcement will come less than a fortnight before the Indian squad leaves for the West Indies.

The board has received as many as 57 applicants for the coveted post. After Ravi Shastri and India's current chairman of selectors Sandeep Patil, Anil Kumble has become the third high-profile applicant for the lead job which is vacant at the end of 2016 World T20.

Initial scrutiny of the applications will be done by BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke , with regard to the applicants meeting the eligibility criteria. There have been few speculations over the language criteria, but the BCCI has made it clear that the knowledge of 'Hindi' is not a mandatory clause.

Apart from this, limited overs skipper MS Dhoni made it clear that more than the language, the incoming coach should understand the culture in an around the team.

"More than Hindi, English, one who understands our culture and our upbringing, the one who understands these sort of things, he will always be better with us. In the past, too, these things have been important, and the coaches who have understood us better, it has made a difference at the ground level"' Dhoni said.

The committee has to also ratify the decisions taken by the board’s Technical Committee which includes holding Ranji Trophy games in the upcoming season at neutral venues. Many teams, captains, and coaches have voiced their opinion against this proposal. Hence, a lot of brainstorming is expected at the all-important technical committee meeting.