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        Now it has boiled down to a two-horse race for the hottest seat in Indian cricket. Interestingly, the contenders - John Emburey and Graham Ford - were not even the dark horses when the name of Daveneil Whatmore did the rounds.

        Of the two, Emburey has a distinct edge over Ford, going by his credibility as a player. Two things you instantly associate with the tall off-spinner, in Indian soil. First was the time when he caught the jaywalking Krish Srikkanth napping with a sharp throw from the slips in the '81 Mumbai Test. At the same venue, he plucked an out-of-the-world catch off his own bowling to send back Kiran More in the '87 World Cup semifinal.

        Mere statistics will reflect the class apart in the merits. In 64 Tests, Emburey had 147 scalps besides his contribution of 1713 runs with the bat. His ODI economy rate of 4.10 for 76 wickets (61 outings) is a no-mean achievement.

        In seven class games which Ford played for Natal B, he has just 43 runs to show for in his account. But in the role of a coach, the South African steals a heady march over his immediate rival. 'It is a huge compliment that my name is beling lend to the job,' was the immediate reaction of the genial man when his name had cropped up.

        Ford's strike rate of nine series win out of the 11 is awesome. Losing his job amidst the match-fixing scandal plaguing the South African team was unjust. But then, he had to accept the inevitable, slowly fading away from the scenario.

        Currently, on a three-year contract with the English county Kent as its director, Ford will be hard pressed to take a decision, should he find himself in that position. Fielding wizard Jonty Rhodes has acknowledged the role of Ford from the time he took charge of Natal coach. 'He had a positive influence on our cricket,' was how Rhodes hit the summing-mode.

        An area where Emburey had to yield is his relative inexperience coaching an international side. Middlesex getting relegated during his stint as coach is a factor not going to gain any currency in his favour.

        Ravi Shastri, one of the three members to decide the outcome, had recommended Ford's name. When Sunil Gavaskar came up with Emburey's name, you wondered whose leg he was pulling!

        Great players do not make great coaches. Somone like Akhtar Ali (in tennis), had a great knack of smelling and grooming talent compared to the illustrious Ramanathan Krishnan. More like the former England captain Mike Brearley, in his ability as a leader compared to his merits as an opening batsman.

        Ford or Emburey? Vijay Merchant's casting vote in favour of Ajith Wadekar settled the captaincy issue before the '71 West Indies tour. In that fashion, much hinges on the decision of Srinivas Venkatraghavan, the third man in the committee.

        Time to keep the fingers crossed.