BCCI to give 7-10 days more for candidates to apply for Team India's head coach position

What’s the Story?

After Anil Kumble's resignation as the head coach of the Indian Cricket team on Tuesday, the BCCI have now decided to give more time for fresh applicants to apply for the position, thereby giving the Cricket Advisory Committee few more options to choose, who should be the next person at the helm.

A top official of the board, associated with the selection process stated they were looking to give about 7-10 days time for more candidates to put in their applications to coach the Men In Blue.

“Look, when we had invited applications last time, Anil was an automatic entry. That might have prompted a lot of people from thinking that what’s the need to apply when current coach is doing well and is in the mix,”

“Now the situation has completely changed. A lot of people will now be interested knowing it’s an open field,” a senior BCCI official said.

In case you didn’t know...

A couple of days after finishing runners-up at the Champions Trophy, India were scheduled to travel to the West Indies for a short tour, when news emerged that head coach Anil Kumble had put in his papers, creating an uproar all around social media.

Kumble had endured a successful time in his 12 months as Team India coach, leading them to 12 wins in the 17 Test matches they played and then being at the helm, when they finished runners-up at the Champions Trophy.

The heart of the matter

The official further added that it would be the Cricket Advisory Committee, comprising of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, who would take the call, as to who becomes the next coach of the Indian cricket team.

It must be remembered that these were the three men who picked Kumble to be the head coach of the side last June and are back to square one to pick another candidate, 12 months later.

Extra Cover: The Cricket Advisory Committee: All you need to know

What’s next?

It will be interesting to see who applies for the post of the coach, now with the extension given by the board. So far five candidates have expressed their interest for the top job. We will now know in a few days how many more want to take up the role.

Author’s take

Given that the board provided more time for candidates to apply, it does seem like they may also want to look beyond the ones interested in the job. It would now be of keen interest to see who applies for the job in the time given.