Only three candidates came up with strong presentations

The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) finally interviewed the candidates in Mumbai yesterday. While most of them connected with them through Skype including Sachin Tendulkar a member of the CAC, former Indian captain Virender Sehwag was the only one to make it for the interviews in person.

Sourav Ganguly after the four hours meeting said that the CAC would want to take some time in making the decision; they will also discuss it with the Indian skipper Virat Kohli and give him the names to pick from. Those who made presentations were Ravi Shastri, Tom Moody, Sehwag, Richard Pybus and Lalchand Rajput. Former West Indies coach Phil Simmons who had also applied for the position didn’t attend the interview.

Among the presentations, it is reported that Shastri, Moody and Sehwag made the “strongest” case for themselves. And thus the trio is leading the race and it is almost certain that one among them will be appointed the head coach of the Indian team to take the team into World Cup 2019.

Captain needs to be on the same page

Having faced the burnt with Anil Kumble’s resignation the CAC wants to make sure that the captain is on the same page when they name the coach and thus he will be shown the presentations once he returns back to the country. While Shastri who served as the team director has the image that he would let Kohli dictate terms in the dressing room, a Telegraph India report suggested that Sehwag maintained a similar stance.

“Virat has to work with the head coach. Therefore, he’s got to be prepared for what to expect if Shastri or Moody are in…

“The CAC and the Board can only act like facilitators, the individuals in question have to make the relationship work…

“Even Sehwag is absolutely clear on how to take the team forward. Among other things, he compared the current lot with the ones he’d played with,” TI quoted a source as saying.

The dark horse in the race

A few reports among the tons that are doing rounds at the moment also suggest that there is a possibility that Sanjay Bangar will lead the Indian team in to the Sri Lanka tour at least for the Test leg and in case Virat isn’t convinced that one among the three proposed candidates fits the bill perfectly Bangar might as well be handed over the responsibility as the head coach since he has the vote of confidence of the team as well as the management and the BCCI.