BCCI consider scrapping interview process for appointment of Indian team's head coach

The hunt for the new coach of the Indian cricket team is in full swing with the BCCI-appointed Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising of former cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman set to interview six out of the ten candidates who have applied for the post. [caption id=“attachment_2864164” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Sourav Ganguly and Ravi Shastri. PTI[/caption] But if a report in the Times of India is to be believed, this could be the last time that such a process where selected candidates have to appear for an interview before the members of the CAC is conducted. Sources told the newspaper that a move to scrap the interview process for appointment of the coach is being discussed within the board. The final decision about the move would, however, rest with the CAC. As per the report, the board is particularly keen on avoiding a repeat of episodes like the verbal spat between Ganguly and Shastri after the CAC decided to snub the latter to go with Kumble as India’s coach last year. What has added grist to the BCCI’s thinking is the CAC’s belief that the vision document the candidates submit with their applications is enough for them to understand the credentials of the candidate making a personal interview unnecessary. According to _PTI_ , the interview with those six candidates was slated to happen on Sunday, but a source told the Times of India that the applicants who had been ready with their presentations had not heard from BCCI till Saturday evening. “No one has told those applicants on how to go about this,” the source was quoted as saying. As per sources, the six likely candidates to be interviewed are Shastri, Virender Sehwag, Tom Moody, Phil Simmons, Richard Pybus and Lalchand Rajput with Shastri considered a front-runner due to his cordial relationship with captain Virat Kohli from his time as India’s team director that ended last year after the World T20. Shastri had initially not applied for the post but when the BCCI extended the deadline for acceptance of applications till 9 July, the former skipper jumped into the fray and suddenly became the hot favourite.   With the final decision regarding India’s next coach expected to be taken by Monday, it is anybody’s guess as to who — the CoA or CAC — would take the final call on the coach’s appointment. With inputs from PTI