Six Candidates Shortlisted For Team India's Head Coach Post

The list of ten candidates, who had applied for the role of the India head coach, has been reportedly trimmed down to six on Sunday (July 9). The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had invited applications on two occasions- one before Anil Kumble’s resignation and one after it and received five applications each time.

Virender Sehwag, Tom Moody, Dodda Ganesh, Lalchand Rajput and Richard Pybus had applied for the post when the board had opened the process on May 25 while Ravi Shastri, Phil Simmons, Lance Klusener, Rakesh Sharma (former Oman coach) and Upendranath Bramhachari ( a layman with no cricketing background)  had applied when the board extended the deadline after Kumble’s departure.

Now as per reports in The Press Trust of India, Ravi Shastri, Virender Sehwag, Tom Moody, Phil Simmons, Richard Pybus and Lalchand Rajput have been shortlisted by the board and will appear in front of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), which comprises of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman.

Barring Sehwag, who was reportedly persuaded by the board officials to apply for the post, all the remaining five candidates have a good track record. While Kumble was Team India’s director between 2014 and 2016 when the team made it to the semifinal of both the World Cups- T20 as well as 50-over, Rajput has coached India A, India Under-19 and the Afghanistan national team in addition to being the Team Manager of India during the 2007 World T20.

Former Australia batsman Tom Moody has done a wonderful job with Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League and was the coach of Sri Lanka when they qualified for the 2007 World Cup final. Richard Pybus, on the other hand, is one of the most celebrated coaches in South Africa and has also coached Pakistan and Bangladesh while Phil Simmons did a brilliant job as Ireland and West Indies head coach, guiding the latter to the World T20 title last year. Sehwag, who is least experienced candidate among the lot, has mentored Kings XI Punjab in IPL.

Meanwhile, Shastri is seen as the front-runner for the coach’s post. Shastri was a popular figure in the dressing room during his stint as the team director and after Kumble’s bitter exit, the CAC would be keen to appoint a man with whom the players can feel comfortable.