The process of finding a new head coach for the senior men’s team has not been as easy as it seemed at first for BCCI, the Indian cricket board.
TOI understands that the deadline for applications is within less than a week and sources revealed that the board has not decided yet on which applicants to consider.
Sources have hinted that Gautam Gambhir (KKR coach), Stephen Fleming (Chennai Super Kings coach) Justin Langer (Lucknow Super Giants coach) and Mahela Jayawardene who was recently appointed as Global Performance Head of Mumbai Indians are being looked at by BCCI.
Reports have it that there are efforts by the Board’s Operations team to reach out to suitable candidates in order to find out whether or not they would be interested. It appears now, however, that Ashish Nehra, Gujarat Titans’ coach whose name had earlier surfaced may not be inclined towards taking up the full time job in various formats of cricket.
It is never as simple as we believe; attracting strong candidates has been made difficult because of fierce competition with IPL.
However, this commitment is one of several issues facing coaches looking to secure their dream roles because their lives will change dramatically with 10 month long foreign tours each year till World Cup ODI 2027. All these aforementioned people are having well paying jobs with IPL franchises.
The one person though among them who does not have any IPL job right now is VVS Laxman currently heading NCA. Though Laxman is said to be disinclined to take up this position but he still remains a contender. Interestingly though,Laxman refused after 2023 world cup while Rahul Dravid was asked to stay on at least until next month’s T20 WC,
Gambhir topped BCCI’s wish-list, according to TOI sources. “There has been no formal communication with potential candidates will only speak through our silence.” None of these coaches are doing anything not considered by others. However, it appears they are waiting for Gambhir. And there could be some talks between BCCI officials and the Kolkata Knight Riders captain in Ahmedabad where he is currently preparing for the IPL playoffs,” a BCCI insider said.
It is learnt that of late, Gambhir has been getting on well with senior players in the Indian team. “If people talk about friction between Gambhir and Virat Kohli, then they do not know what they have had off the field.” “Following an incident during an IPL match last year, though, both were asked to sit down together as friends and work out any problems that may have arisen,” adds our source.
After Anil Kumble was made the head coach for one year over Ravi Shastri in 2016, such decisions were never made by the Board.
Shastri had Kohli’s full backing from 2017-21.Later that same year Dravid was promoted from NCA head after lengthy discussions with the BCCI officials during T20 World Cup 2021 held at Dubai.
In this current situation, BCCI does not seem to be sure of its options. Nonetheless, we can expect solidified conversations and developments within this week’s end.
