Wednesday was supposed to be the deadline for the high-profile coach recommendation committee to submit its suggestion to Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke.
However, owing to complexities, the committee that includes three stalwarts and a respectable cricketer-turned-administrator, has been granted extension till Friday morning, barely minutes before the crucial BCCI working committee meeting.
“The committee appointed by the BCCI for the selection of head coach of the Indian cricket team met today to deliberate further on the options and possibilities based on the presentations made by the applicants,” said a BCCI statement on Wednesday evening.
Detailed deliberations“After detailed deliberations, it was decided that they would discuss the finer details and submit their report to the secretary of the BCCI on the morning of June 24, 2016.”
The Hindu understands that after interviewing the shortlisted candidates on Tuesday night, the committee, comprising V.V.S. Laxman, former captains Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar, and Sanjay Jagdale as its convener, was far from finalising a consensus candidate.
A source close to the committee revealed that the three experts had suggested a candidate each at the end of the exhausting proceedings on Tuesday.
By the time they re-convened on Wednesday, the race had been reduced to Ravi Shastri, the outgoing team director, and Anil Kumble, the former India captain who has been a surprise entrant in the race for the top job.
Eventually, the committee decided to seek the views of India’s Test captain Virat Kohli through a tele-conference.
Besides consulting Kohli, the committee is also likely to take into consideration the views of some of the senior India regulars before firming up its choice.
Kohli’s preference will obviously gain a lot of weightage in the committee’s final recommendation.
It remains to be seen if Kohli prefers the team director with whom he developed an excellent rapport over the last 18 months, or the legendary leg-spinner who had played a major role in getting his focus back on the game in the Royal Challengers Bangalore change room during the 2009 edition of the Indian Premier League.
