Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) likely to ask for more entrants to apply for the post of the head coach which has been left vacant, as Anil Kumble stepped down abruptly after revealing in his post that Virat Kohli had reservations about him as a coach, after being runners-up in the ICC Champions Trophy which saw them losing the grand finale against arch-rivals Pakistan by 180 runs at The Oval on June 18.
According to the news wire PTI, the top brass of BCCI revealed at least a week will be provided to ask for candidates to file their application respectively.
Earlier, when the board has revealed the advertisement, the BCCI official revealed Kumble was the ideal choice as an automatic selection owing to his exemplary record.
“Look, when we had invited applications last time, Anil [Kumble] 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,” a senior BCCI official was quoted by PTI.
However, the reports suggested the option of asking for more applications would add the variety for the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), to appoint the candidate, who would be deemed fit for the position.
The development came to the fore soon after Kumble denied extending his contract with the BCCI, before wishing his best for the national team.
“Now the situation has completely changed. A lot of people will now be interested knowing it’s an open field,” the official form BCCI remarked.
The CAC is supervised by ex-skipper Sourav Ganguly and stalwarts of the gentleman’s game Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, who are eyeing to find the new leader to work alongside Virat Kohli.
The 42-year-old former leg-spinner has posted a tweet while writing ‘thank you’ which was further accompanied by a photo to explain his exit ahead of the limited-overs tour to Caribbean.
In his social media post, Kumble revealed on the basis of differences he is stepping down while adding his way of dealing with the team was questioned by skipper himself while adding he came to know about the reservation through the national board itself.
Soon after the post, the Twittersphere went berserk which further saw Kohli drew flak as the social media users stated it should not have had happened while throwing support behind Kumble.
Following the last date of the post on May 31, 2017, the former Delhi-born swashbuckling Virender Sehwag has had also applied for the post which further saw current Afghanistan coach Lalchand Rajput, Tom Moody and Richard Pybus in a fray too.
Moreover, the official added Sehwag is seen as the favourite while stating CAC would have the final say for sealing the fate of the applicants while adding the ample options would help in opting for the best candidate.
“Sehwag’s application has no relation with BCCI to call for more applications. In the end, it would be CAC which will decide on the next coach. More the options, better the choice,” the BCCI official concluded.
Interestingly, the 52-year-old Queensland-born fast bowler Craig McDermott from Australia, was late to submit his curriculum vitae for the post.
McDermott, who has played 138 ODIs and 71 Tests, claimed 494 wickets across both the formats, has another chance to file his nomination for the post.