BCCI's selection committee interviews 16 aspirants for physio's job, 12 for role of strength and conditioning coach

Mumbai: The process to pick the support staff of the Indian cricket team continued on Wednesday when the selection committee interviewed 16 aspirants eyeing the physio’s job and 12 for the position of strength and conditioning coach. The support staff will be appointed for a period of two years beginning from the series against South Africa till the end of the 2021 T20 World Cup to be held in India. [caption id=“attachment_5302221” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image of BCCI. AFP[/caption] The team is set to get a new physio and trainer after Patrick Farhat and Shankar Basu expressed their unwillingness to continue. Among those who appeared for trainer’s post was Rajnikanth, who is associated with IPL franchise Delhi Capitals. Sudarshan VP, who was India team’s strength and conditioning coach for a brief period and was also associated with National Cricket Academy, too was interviewed. Noted sports orthopedic doctor Dinshaw Pardiwala and Ranadeep Moitra, a former first-class cricketer and a strength and conditioning coach, assisted the five-member selection panel led by former India wicket-keeper MSK Prasad. The selection process of the support staff began on Monday and the ‘five wise men’ have interviewed 14 candidates for batting position including incumbent Sanjay Bangar, 12 aspirants for bowling coach position including the current coach Bharat Arun. They also interviewed nine candidates including incumbent R Sridhar and former South Africa player Jonty Rhodes for the fielding coach’s role. Twenty five candidates have applied for the post of administrative manager position and are set to be interviewed on Thursday, when the entire process will concluded. Incumbent Sunil Subramaniam, who allegedly misbehaved with official of the Indian High Commission in West Indies, will also appear for the interview on Thursday. However, he is unlikely to be picked again. It is also understood that the BCCI CEO Rahul Johri will assist the selectors when the interviews for the administrative manager’s position will be held. A source said that after the process is over, the selection panel will give their recommendations to the CEO, who in turn will give it to the Committee of Administrators. The announcement will happen only after the recommended names are vetted by the legal team for potential conflict of interest. The announcement of the support staff will be made on Thursday. Last week, the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising 1983 World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev, former player and coach Anshuman Gaikwad and former women’s captain Shantha Rangaswamy had reappointed Ravi Shastri as the team’s coach till the end of 2021 T20 World Cup.