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BCCI on hunt for new head coach for Team India

PTI3_14_2017_000036B [File photo] Anil Kumble | PTI

Denies reports that board is unhappy with Kumble whose term ends on June 20

Minutes after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) posted a picture of  the Men in Blue landing in England to defend their Champions Trophy title, the board set a veritable cat among the pigeons with another tweet announcing the search for a head coach for the Indian cricket team. 

Clearly, current coach Anil Kumble, despite steering the team to record victories, is not getting an automatic extension. Kumble's term ends on June 20.

He had left for London before the team to attend the ICC Cricket Committee meeting of which he is the chairman. 

The advertisement said, "The BCCI would like to call upon interested candidates to apply for the position of 'head coach' for the Indian cricket team (men). The process has been initiated since the term of the current coach, Mr. Anil Kumble concludes with the Champions Trophy. Present Head Coach, Mr. Anil Kumble will be a direct entry for the process.”

The official “search” for the new India coach led to the buzz that board officials were unhappy with Kumble's presentation to the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA), in which he had proposed to increase players' fees by 150 per cent, apart from a hike of his and the support staff's fees. 

Vehemently denying claims that the BCCI was unhappy with Kumble, acting board secretary Amitabh Chowdhary told THE WEEK, “BCCI is only following procedure and due process. The advertisement (for new coach) is absolutely impersonal, unbiased and objective. It had to be done as Kumble's tenure was ending on June 20.” 

When asked if the current coach's recent presentations had any bearing on the initiation of the search process, Choudhary said, “How can that be possible? The process has to be followed and has no bearing on Kumble's interactions with CoA.” 

According to a press statement, a nominee of the CoA will oversee the entire process along with the Cricket Advisory Committee “to ensure a fair and completely transparent process.” The application date closes on May 31, after which the BCCI's three-member Cricket Advisory Committee comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and V.V.S. Laxman would conduct interviews and seek presentations to select the best possible candidate.

Under Kumble's watch, Team India reached the No 1 position in ICC Test rankings and is the second in the ODI rankings, behind Australia. He took charge after his predecessor Ravi Shastri lost out in the interview and who, consequently, lashed out at the interview process upset after the snub from the Cricket Advisory Committee.

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