No competition from Ravi Shastri or Virender Sehwag, says Lalchand Rajput

What's the story?

Lalchand Rajput, former Indian cricketer, opened up about his application for India's head coach in an exclusive interview with NDTV. He has already served as the manager of the Indian Cricket team in 2007, prior to the World T20, and India emerged as the champions of the same tournament.

Speaking about his fellow applicants for the post, Lalchand Rajput said, “I don't see any competition from Shastri or Sehwag or any others who have applied for the job. Let the best one win. I know we all are in competition, but I don't see myself competing with the other applicants. I have my own identity and they have theirs.”

He also talked about his time with the Indian team in the 2007 World T20 when the Men in Blue lifted the trophy for the first time. He discussed the victorious campaign of team India and his role in that process. “I was short of time. I had to adjust with the team as soon as possible. I just wanted to give them confidence. That was a major challenge for me. The team was in turmoil and I wanted to unite them. They were talented and I knew they will perform well in the big tournament and they did so in style,” he added.

In case you didn't know...

Lalchand Rajput was appointed the manager of the Dhoni-led Indian squad right ahead of the inaugural edition of World T20 on a very short notice. After Greg Chappell stepped down from the coach's role post the embarrassing exit of India from 2007 ICC World Cup. Currently, he is serving as the head coach of Afghanistan.

After Anil Kumble stepped down from the post of team India's head coach, BCCI invited applications. The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) was then handed the job of selecting the next head coach of the Indian team from a pool of applicants including Virender Sehwag, Ravi Shastri, Dodda Ganesh, Richard Pybus and Tom Moody alongside Lalchand Rajput.

The heart of the matter

Rajput believes that his past records with the team speak enough of him. He was also mentoring the Indian team when they won the 2007 home Test and ODI series against Pakistan followed by a victory in the ODI triangular series in Australia the next year. He is of the opinion that the CAC is responsible for deciding who is best suited for the job. If they think that he is more suitable for the job, he will be selected. However, if that is not the case, someone else will be given the chance ahead of him.

When he was asked about the type of coach team India needs at this point in time, Rajput stated that he is one of the applicants which bars him from projecting any image of the next coach. He stated that the CAC, the skipper and the team must have an idea about how the coach should be and they will carry out their selection process according to the same.

What's next?

The CAC, comprising of Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, will now look at the applicants for the head coach of India on 10^th of July.

Author's take

Lalchand Rajput has already mentored the Indian side when the team had hit one of its lowest points after a disappointing performance in the World Cup. Greg Chappell's sacking had left team India in a crisis and at that point, Rajput did an exceptionally good job in bringing team India back to their dominating self.

He is one of the strongest contenders amongst those who have applied for the position of the head coach. As far as the competition with Ravi Shastri and Virender Sehwag is concerned, both seem popular choices for donning the coach's hat. Ravi Shastri had been in the same role before and has a rather successful record during his term as the manager. Sehwag, on the hand, gained his experience in the role of coaching by mentoring Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League.

Having said that, there is no disputing the fact that Rajput has done a good job with the Indian team as well. Each of these contenders has a positive and a negative side to them. Therefore, now it solely depends upon the CAC and the captain because they will need select someone who completely fits the bill.