BCCI panel likely to finalise India coach by Wednesday

The BCCI's cricket advisory committee, appointed to pick the India coach, carried out interviews with six to seven candidates on Tuesday in Kolkata. Former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who is one of the three members on the committee along with Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, said that the panel was likely to pick its final choice by the end of the day and forward it to BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke by Wednesday.

While Ganguly had told reporters early in the day that ten candidates were to be interviewed, he later said that the panel had met with six to seven candidates. He added that he could not divulge any other details and would want the BCCI to announce all further information.

Anil Kumble and Ravi Shastri were the most high-profile candidates who made their presentations on Tuesday. While Kumble appeared in person for the interview, Shastri spoke with the panel through Skype as he was overseas.

The other candidates who were interviewed were Tom Moody, Stuart Law, Lalchand Rajput, Pravin Amre and Andy Moles. Amre told ESPNcricinfo that he had laid out his vision for the Indian side and told the panel that one of his main aims as head coach would be to help the team perform well consistently overseas.

"It was also a good learning experience for me as the panel wanted to know exactly how I would achieve the objective of [helping] India become the No. 1 team in all forms," Amre said. "We went in detail on each criterion listed in the job application."

Sandeep Patil, the chairman of selectors, once again confirmed on Tuesday that he had "not been invited for an interview."

The hunt for a new coach began after Shastri's contract as team director expired at the end of the World T20 in April. The application process started on June 1, with an advertisement on the BCCI website, and the board set a deadline of June 10. It received 57 applications, and the list of candidates was trimmed to 21 last week.

Among the important qualifications listed in the advertisement included coaching experience at the international or first-class level. The BCCI had also stated that candidates who were qualified with a certification/assessment programme conducted by any of the Full Member nations and currently hold such certification, would be preferred.