Mahela Jayawardene Not In Race For Team India's Head Coach Post
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What is the story:

Former Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene has ruled himself out of the race to become Team India head coach, putting an end to the rumours that suggested he was in contention to fill the spot vacated by Anil Kumble’s acrimonious exit.

The legendary batsman himself took to Twitter to clear the air. The 40-year old, who coached Mumbai Indians in this year’s Indian Premier League, insisted that he is not willing to take up full-time coaching right now.

“Flattered by speculation linking me to India coaching job but I am not looking at full-time positions right now,” he tweeted.

In another tweet, he said he is currently focused on coaching Mumbai Indians and Khulna Titans.

“I am completely focused on current commitments with MI and Khulna,” he said.

Jayawardene pulling out of the race is definitely a bad news for Indian cricket. The legendary batsman is one of the most experienced individual in the game right now and the way he guided Mumbai Indians to title in his inaugural season, it is pretty clear that he has got what it takes to excel as a coach.

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Image result for mahela jayawardene mumbai indian

Heart of the matter:

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is currently on the lookout for a head coach after Anil Kumble stepped down from the post, citing captain Virat Kohli’s reservations over his style of functioning.

Image result for kumble and kohli getty images

Kumble was asked to continue until the ongoing limited-overs series in West Indies tour, but the former India skipper chose to walk away after realizing his partnership with Kohli was ‘untenable’. And with Kumble’s resignation coming earlier then expected, the BCCI has extended the deadline  for submission of applications for the post of head coach to July 9.

The new applicants will join Virender Sehwag, Tom Moody, Richard Pybus, Lalchand Rajput and Doda Ganesh who had applied for India’s coaching role when BCCI first advertised for the post last month.

Cricket Advisory Committee to select the new coach:

BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, has been assigned with the responsibility of selecting the new coach just like they selected Kumble last year. The process will be similar to last year as after the BCCI forwards the final shortlist to the three-member committee, it will conduct interviews and seek presentations before sending their final choice to the board.

Image result for sachin sourav and laxman

New coach to be appointed ahead of Sri Lanka series:

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Team India is currently in the Caribbeans without a head coach with BCCI deputing its general manager M.V. Sridhar to supervise the team management. But a new coach is likely to be appointed before the team visits Sri Lanka next month.

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