Now an engineer wants to coach Team India!

Upendra Nath Brahmachari, a 30-year-old engineer from Nashik, has applied for the post of Indian cricket's chief coach. He says his application is in protest against the treatment meted out to Anil Kumble by the BCCI and skipper Virat Kohli.

Hailing from West Bengal’s Burdwan district, Brahmachari has been a resident of Nashik for a while now, and he admits that he has played cricket “only in school”.

At a time when Indian cricket is looking for a suitable candidate for the post of chief coach, a mechanical engineer has thrown his hat in the ring.

Upendra Nath Brahmachari, a 30-year-old engineer, based in Nashik, has applied for the job on Monday. In an email to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) — a copy of which Sportstar possesses — Brahmachari has expressed his intentions to coach India. He, however, will be disappointed as the BCCI guidelines clearly state that a candidate applying for the position “should have successfully coached a cricket team of any of the member countries of the ICC, at the first-class or at the international level.”

“I didn’t like the way Anil Kumble was treated by the Board and by captain (Virat) Kohli. He was humiliated because he didn’t toe Kohli's line. My application is in protest against that,” Brahmachari told Sportstar from Nashik on Tuesday.

Brahmachari's email to the BCCI, applying for the job.

 

In his application to the Board, Brahmachari has made it clear that coming from a non-cricket background will help him gel well with Kohli. “Why I should be appointed as the head coach? Because I can adjust with the arrogant attitude of the captain and no legend can do so. Slowly I will drag him on to the right track and then the BCCI can appoint a legend as the head coach,” he wrote in his application.

Hailing from West Bengal’s Burdwan district, Brahmachari has been a resident of Nashik for a while now, and he admits that he has played cricket “only in school”.

“Even I know they (BCCI) would not call me for the interview, but with things looking shoddy, this was my way of protesting,” he said.

Considered one of the most high-profile jobs in the cricket circuit, big names like Virender Sehwag, Craig McDermott, Richard Pybus, Lalchand Rajput and Tom Moody have already applied for the post. Former India team director Ravi Shastri may also join the fray in a bid to get another stint. Among these stars, Brahmachari’s application does come as a surprise.

“Anyone can apply for the position. It is up to the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) to take a call on the matter,” is how a top BCCI official reacted to Brahmachari’s application.