New Delhi: India will continue to be without a head coach for the tour of Sri Lanka, which begins on July 26, after Sourav Ganguly said the Cricket Advisory Committee needed more time and to speak to the India captain Virat Kohli before finalising on Anil Kumble’s successor.
The CAC, which also includes Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, had interviewed Lalchand Rajput, Richard Pybus, Tom Moody, Virender Sehwag and Ravi Shastri – Phil Simmons wasn’t available – for the job. Ganguly said the panel did not want to make a rushed decision without speaking at length to the stakeholders who would be working with the coach after the appointment was made.
“We feel there is no hurry at the moment,” Ganguly said on Monday in Mumbai. “Sri Lanka tour is in a week’s time, the board headed by [secretary] Amitabh Choudhary and [CEO] Rahul Johri will probably continue with the same set for the time being.
“We want to speak to Virat Kohli once he is back from America, all three of us along with the respective people concerned. We will explain to him that the coaches want to function in a certain way and make sure that everybody is on the same page before we make the announcement, because once we make the announcement it has to be till the [2019] World Cup.
“You got to give credit to Virat that he is just completely straight about it. He has no input, he has not sent any names, but we feel as the Advisory Committee that he is the captain, which is the most important thing in cricket. He and everyone of us need to be on the same page because for us Indian cricket is more important. We are just a small bit; the main bit is the players who are going to play with the coach.”
India have been without a head coach since the end of the Champions Trophy in England in June, when Kumble’s one-year term came to an end. Kumble had been offered an extension to cover India’s tour of the West Indies immediately after the Champions Trophy, but he declined owing to a breakdown in his relationship with Kohli. The India captain had earlier told BCCI officials that some players were uncomfortable with the “intimidating” style of Kumble’s man management.
