Anil Kumble, Ravi Shastri interviewed for India coach post; Sandeep Patil doesn't appear
Former India cricketers, Anil Kumble and Ravi Shastri, were today interviewed for the post of the Head Coach of the Indian Cricket Team by the BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising of legendary Indian cricketers such as Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, at Kolkata, as the board prepares for the final formalities for selecting the next coach of the Indian cricket team. However, another prime applicant for the post, and the incumbent Chairman of the Selection Panel of the BCCI, Sandeep Patil didn’t appear for the interview.
The BCCI had, on May 22, released a notification inviting applications from prospective candidates for the aforementioned role, and the by the time the deadline for such applications ended on June 10, as many as 57 candidates were reported by the BCCI to have applied for the post. Later, through several media reports, several former cricketers and coaches such as Ravi Shastri, Praveen Amre, Venkatesh Prasad and Anil Kumble confirmed their applications.
The board, thereafter, shortlisted 21 candidates in the initial screening process, and they were called for the interviews today. Tendulkar, due to his unavailability in the country, joined the interview panel via a video conference. It has been reported that Kumble was present in person to appear for the interview while Ravi Shastri, former Team India Director, who is not in the country at the moment, appeared for it through a video conference.
Foreign applicants, Tom Moody and Stuart Law, also gave their presentations via video conference. Quite surprisingly, Sandeep Patil, another high-profile candidate, was not called for the interview while former India cricketers and present coaches in the domestic circuit, Praveen Amre and Lalchand Rajput got their opportunities. “I was not invited for an interview,” Patil told the Press Trust of India.
The interview process was completed today, and would not extend to Wednesday as was reported earlier, and the CAC is supposed to submit its report to the BCCI Secretary, Ajay Shikre by tomorrow. The next coach of the Indian cricket team is expected to be announced on June 24 on the sidelines of the BCCI’s 1st Annual Conclave that went underway today in Dharamsala.
“We are not interviewing any more candidates. The process will end today. We have interviewed around 10 candidates and each of them have made their presentations. We are expected to finalise our choice by today and will submit our report to the BCCI secretary,” said Ganguly, a CAC member.