Praveen Amre and Surendra Bhave enter race to become India's coach

As the deadline for applying for the post of the Indian cricket team’s coach is nearing, plenty of names have been doing the rounds in the last few days. Undoubtedly, one of the most lucrative and high-profile jobs in the cricketing world is up for grabs and there have been quite a few contenders who are definitely gunning for the coveted post. Recently, two new names were added to the long list of contenders as former domestic stalwarts Praveen Amre and Surendra Bhave applied for the post. Today is the last day for applying for the job and after that, the Board of Control for Cricket in India will scan the applications to select the man for the job.

Praveen Amre

According to the Hindu, the two player-turned-coaches confirmed that they have submitted their applications to BCCI on Thursday. Amre, who played 11 Tests and 37 ODIs for India, has coached the Mumbai domestic side to three Ranji Trophy titles. He has also been at the helm of the India-A side which dished out decent performances in the past.

Amre revolutionised the concept of a ‘personal coach’ in cricket when he worked with the likes of Robin Uthappa and Dinesh Karthik to find out the flaws in their respective techniques and rectify them by giving his guidance. Uthappa worked extensively with the former cricketer to remodel his game and he reaped benefits as well as he unleashed some wonderful batting performances in the domestic cricket.

Praveen Amre has often been the go-to man for many young Indian cricketers who sought his expert advice on batting. He has helped the likes of Ajinkya Rahane. Suresh Raina, and Naman Ojha as well and Amre can be the man India is looking for to solve their batting woes overseas.

Surendra Bhave

Whereas, on the other hand, Surendra Bhave served as the national selector from 2008 to 2012 and also took charge of Maharashtra’s Ranji team which made it to the final of the Ranji Trophy in 2013-14. He is someone who knows the Indian cricket well and for the last two years, he has been working with the Haryana side.

As a player, Bhave was known for his immaculate technique and he used to be a reliable opening batsman for his state team Maharashtra. As a captain, he took them to the final of the Ranji Trophy in 1992-93 which they eventually lost to Punjab.

With so many big names in the contention, it is surely going to be one uphill task to pick the one amongst them. One thing’s for sure, whoever gets the nod will have his task cut out as India look forward to a gruelling season ahead.