The deadline for the India coach job applications has ended on Monday as more than 3,000 applications have filled up the Google forms, given by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), as they look forward to appointing a refreshing member for the position at the end of Rahul Dravid’s tenure after the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024.
Most of those 3000 applicants have been fake, as they have been used in the names of former cricketers and politicians. The likes of former World Cup-winning captain for India, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, or the current ‘Prime Minister’ of the country, Narendra Modi have been used as the names of the applicants.
These also include retired India players like Virender Sehwag or Harbhajan Singh, or the ‘God of cricket’ Sachin Tendulkar, while among the politicians, the list has the name of Union home minister- Amit Shah, for the India coach job.
BCCI is looking for refreshing face for the India coach role
On May 13, the BCCI invited the applications for the India coach role on a Google form. It, however, hasn’t been clear whether any genuine cricketer has shown any interest towards the responsibility.
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This is not the first time, that the India Cricket Board has been face the issue with false applicants, which takes a lot of time to scrutinize the real names. During the 2022 season, when they looked for the head coach role, around 5000 applications were submitted, as most of these were of either a Bollywood superstar or a cricketer or a politician.
Back then, the board decided to ask the interested candidates to mail their applications, while this time they have used the Google forms.
“Last year too, the BCCI received such a response where imposters applied and the story is similar this time,” a BCCI official has revealed to the Indian Express. “The reason the BCCI had to invite applications on Google forms is it’s easy to scrutinize the names of applicants in one sheet.”
The new India coach will take over the responsibilities of the team till the upcoming ODI World Cup in South Africa in 2027 besides getting the exciting tournaments like the 2025 Champions Trophy, 2025 World Test Championship Final (if India qualify for the third consecutive time), and also the home T20 World Cup in 2026.
In an advertisement, the requirement of the qualities of the India coach was outlined by the BCCI. Some of the notable ones for the role were- the candidate ‘must be willing to meet work expectations and pressures associated with handling marquee athletes’, and that they should look to ‘develop a world-class Indian cricket team which delivers sustained success in all conditions and formats, inspiring current and future generations of cricketers and stakeholders with their approach to the game.’
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Under the current head-coach Rahul Dravid, India ended the with 14 victories in 24 Tests, besides losing seven. They also won six series which included the huge home series wins over the Australia and England team. India reached the semifinal of the T20 World Cup 2022, before losing it to England by 10-wickets, while they became the runners-up of the last ODI World Cup 2023 against Australia.