BCCI receives 57 applications for India's head coach job

The BCCI on Sunday revealed that the board has received 57 applications for the post of India's head coach.

Ravi Shastri is one of the top contenders for the coach’s post, having served as the team director since India's tour of England in 2014 till the end of 2016 World T20.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced that it has received 57 applications for the post of India’s head coach. The announcement was made through a media release on Sunday, two days after the deadline for applying, June 10, expired.

“The primary scrutiny of the applications received is now being carried out by the Office of the Honorary Secretary of the BCCI, with regards to the applicants, meeting the set eligibility criteria. After this initial scrutiny, the list of candidates who meet the criteria will be processed for further consideration,” BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke stated in the statement.

Sportstar understands that the manner in which further process of interviewing candidates will be carried out is yet to be finalised. The final shortlisted candidates may be asked to visit Dharamsala ahead of the BCCI working committee meeting on June 24 and a panel including distinguished cricketers may conduct one-on-one interviews with three or five candidates.

As reported by Sportstar over the last week, Ravi Shastri, whose tenure as India’s team director ended in March, and Sandeep Patil, the present chairman of selection panel, are key contenders. Besides the duo, a plethora of domestic coaches, including former India fielding coach Robin Singh, former India bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad, former India cricket manager Lalchand Rajput and former India A coach Praveen Amre, have applied for the prestigious post. Current national selector Vikram Rathour, considered to be a close aide of BCCI president Anurag Thakur, and former selector Surendra Bhave have also applied.

It is also understood that the BCCI has received impressive resumes from overseas coaches. But the BCCI officials have been tightlipped about overseas candidates, leaving the possibility of a surprising candidate emerging out of nowhere.

The BCCI was forced to advertise for the coach’s post since numerous overseas candidates, including Ricky Ponting, Daniel Vettori and Stephen Fleming, turned down the high-pressure job.