Nick Webb Likely To Become Team India's Trainer

Former New Zealand Rugby League trainer Nick Webb is the hot favourite to become Team India’s next trainer and conditioning coach. The position was vacant after Shankar Basu decided not to renew his tenure after the World Cup.

The All India Senior Selection Committee, along with fitness expert Ranadeep Moitra, conducted a practical assessment of five short-listed candidates for the post. After a detailed interview, the concerned authority picked three probables to occupy the spot. Nick Webb occupied to the top spot while the other two being Luke Woodhouse and Rajnikanth Sivagnanam.

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The 32-year-old Nick Webb has also worked with New Zealand’s first-class side Central Districts, also known as Stags. His last assignment was with the New Zealand women’s national team. Webb had held similar positions with Rugby teams like Vodafone Warriors, North Harbour Rugby and East Coast Bays Rugby Club.

“Since the formalities of the appointment will be completed by CEO, we can’t say Webb has got the job. But obviously he is the top choice and once the terms of appointment is finalised, he will be on board,” a senior BCCI official told PTI.

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Nick Webb got the extra benefit that he had trained with the Rugby sides. The official also added that he is best-suited to replace Shankar Basu who has set high standards in Indian fitness. The other two candidates – Woodhouse is currently the National lead for Strength and Conditioning of the England Women’s Rugby team while Sivagnanam has served as the fitness coach of Delhi Daredevils.

“One of the things that weighed in favour of Nick was the fact that he has been associated with a National Rugby League (NRL) team Warriors in New Zealand. He was found to be most suitable to take the benchmark that Shankar Basu had set to a different level,” the official concluded.

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