The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) of BCCI has finally short-listed six candidates for the head coach position of Indian cricket team.
The Kapil Dev led committee has informed the six candidates about interview date and timing. Out of over 2000 applications that BCCI received for various roles, the likes of Mike Hesson, Tom Moody, Robin Singh, Lalchand Rajput, Phil Simmons and Ravi Shastri have been shortlisted. Chief selector MSK Prasad will pick batting, bowling and fielding coaches for the team.
At the moment, current head coach Ravi Shastri is considered to be the front runner as he has support from skipper Virat Kohli. The three member CAC comprising Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad and Shantha Rangaswamy is likely to take Kohli’s suggestions seriously.
Shastri, who is currently touring with the team will be interviewed through Skype from West Indies.
Amongst other candidates, Tom Moody, a former Australian all-rounder, has guided Hyderabad franchise of the Indian T20 league to a win in 2016 and attain runners-up position in 2018 during his six-year tenure.
Lalchand Rajput, who has coached India, India A and Afghanistan earlier and is with Zimbabwe currently, guided the Winnipeg franchise of GT20 Canada to the crown in its first edition. He was with the Indian team during inaugural ICC T20 World Cup 2007 and CB Series in Australia next year.
Robin Singh, who was fielding coach of the team during 2007 to 2009, has been assistant coach for Mumbai franchise in Indian T20 League and head coach of Barbados franchise in Caribbean T20 League.
Mike Hessen, on the other hand, has been with New Zealand from 2012 to 2018 and was in charge of Punjab franchise in Indian T20 League. Phil Simmons, former West Indian batsman, was the coach of Afghanistan in ICC World Cup 2019.
Moody and Hessen are also being considered by some subcontinent countries for coaching roles.
Feature Image Courtesy: AFP/ Punit Paranjpe
