Lack of BCCI intervention ruled Kirsten out of coaching race

Gary Kirsten would have been named head coach if the BCCI or someone with influence had talked to RCB and brought an end to his contract without any financial damage.

People in the know of what transpired during the interview said Kapil, Gaekwad and Shanta believed that Kirsten would have been able to calm the situation created after India’s exit from the Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies.

The three-member special committee, comprising Kapil Dev, Aunshuman Gaekwad and Shanta Rangaswamy, was keen to get South African Gary Kirsten as head coach of the National women’s team that is set to play New Zealand in an ODI and Twenty20 series in January-February next year.

They believed he was the best of the nine applicants short-listed to three. After the interview, the committee nominated Kirsten as the first choice followed by W.V. Raman and Venkatesh Prasad.

The BCCI eventually chose Raman with the head of the Committee of Administrators (CoA), Vinod Rai, facing resistance from member Diana Edulji.

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People in the know of what transpired during the interview said Kapil, Gaekwad and Shanta believed that Kirsten, good in people management, would have been able to calm the situation created after India’s exit from the Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies.

The committee’s premise was based on Kirsten having coached the India men’s team from 2008 to 2011. Kirsten was also the head coach of the South Africa team from 2011 to 2013.

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However, the committee felt the South African, contracted with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), would change his mind in the event of being chosen for the position with the Indian women’s team for two years.

Observers feel Kirsten would have been named head coach if the BCCI or someone with influence had talked to RCB and brought an end to his contract without any financial damage.