Sachin Tendulkar to help pick India coach via video chat

Sachin Tendulkar will join fellow batting greats Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman from abroad via a live video chat to help BCCI zero in on the next Indian coach. Dubbed the ‘holy trinity’ by Indian media, Tendulkar, Ganguly and Laxman, came together to form the cricket advisory committee with senior official Sanjay Jagdale who acted as the chief co-ordinator of the committee to filter out 21 contenders from the 57 applications, a statement said on Thursday.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) release added that Tendulkar, who is out of the country, “has confirmed his availability as and when required through video conference facilities”.

The high-powered committee has less than a week to pick a coach. The report from the Cricket Advisory Committee will be submitted to the BCCI president Anurag Thakur by 22nd June through secretary Ajay Shirke. The new coach will be appointed on 24^th July before India’s tour of the West Indies in July.

“The said committee… will process and scrutinize all the applications, conduct interviews and seek presentations from candidates as the committee deems fit,” BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke said in the statement. Should the committee desire to look at all the 57 applications as well, the statement said will be made available to them.”

The BCCI hasn’t named any of the candidates as the front-runner to occupy the top position, but media reports suggest that former team director Ravi Shastri and current chief selector Sandeep Patil. The job will be tough for advisory committee considering the fact that many top names like Anil Kumble, Venkatesh Prasad and others are also in the fray.