Team India coach to be finalised before

Monday May 21, 09:37 PM

Ahmedabad May 21(ANI): Secretary of the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI), Niranjan Shah, today said that the new coach for team India will be finalised before the team's tour to Ireland and England in June.

He also said that Australian Dav Whatmore, the present coach of Bangladesh, is a candidate for the coach's job and supported Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar's recent statement about taking players' opinion regarding coach's selection.

"I don't mind there is nothing wrong in it (consulting players before selection of a coach) after all board and players are part of one body therefore there is no harm in that also," Shah said.

Regarding Whatmore's chances of being given the responsibility to coach the team after former coach Australian Greg Chappell resigned following India's debacle in the World Cup, Shah said, "It was an extremely brief meeting with Whatmore. We only wanted to know whether Whatmore was willing to coach the Indian team. After all the decision lies with the committee. On June 4, the committee will decide on the other names as well. We will finalise the coach by June 10 or 12."

Whatmore guided Sri Lanka to the World Cup victory in 1996 and helped Bangladesh to reach the second round of World cup after a shocking victory over India in the Caribbean this year.

The 53-year-old, Whatmore has decided not to renew his contract with Bangladesh, which came to end in April, but agreed to coach the team in a series against India this month.

Shah refused to give the names of the other probable candidates and said several rounds of discussion would be held before selecting the new coach. (ANI)