New Delhi: The Indian cricket board (BCCI) is looking for an efficient planner with strong man-management skills to guide the senior national team, a member of the panel entrusted with the task of selecting a new head coach said.
BCCI has invited applications for the position of head coach and support staff for the menâs side, with incumbent Ravi Shastri and his team given automatic entry in the recruitment process.
The deadline for applications expires on Tuesday and the short-listed candidates will be interviewed by a Cricket Advisory Committee comprising cricket great Kapil Dev, former batsman and coach Anshuman Gaekwad and former womenâs captain Shanta Rangaswamy.
You have to be a good man manager and a good planner, Gaekwad said. “These are the two aspects which are most important. There are so many other aspects which you have to take into consideration. Technical knowledge is obviously important because without that you canât plan.”
Applications have been invited for the positions of head coach, batting coach, bowling coach, fielding coach, physiotherapist, strength and conditioning coach as well as an administrative manager.
The contract of the current coaching staff was set to expire after the World Cup but they were handed an extension till the tour of the West Indies, starting Aug. 3, where India plays three Twenty20 internationals, three ODIs and two Tests. Former Test all-rounder Shastri was appointed head coach in 2017, succeeding former captain Anil Kumble who stepped down after falling out with Kohli despite a successful run while in charge of the team.
Under Shastri, who also had a previous stint as Indiaâs team director, India won a maiden Test series in Australia earlier this year and is ranked number one in the world in the format. It also reached the semi-finals of the 50-over World Cup.
Asked if the panel would consult Kohli before picking the next coach, Gaekwad said it was not mandatory. “We chose the womenâs coach, we didnât have any inputs from anyone,” he said. “Itâs not compulsory that we have to talk to them or not talk to them, either way. It all depends on the BCCI … We havenât had a dialogue still with the BCCI, we have just been intimated.”