XtraTime Web Desk: India skipper Virat Kohli won’t have ‘any say’ in the selection procedure of India’s next head coach. The entire procedure will be looked over by three-member steering committee which will be chaired by India’s former World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev, as per a senior BCCI official. As per reports the board has taken this decision after the Anil Kumble- Virat Kohli rift post 2017 ICC Champions Trophy after which Kumble stepped down from his post. During the cach selection process Kohli gave his vote to Ravi Shastri.
BCCI invited applications for the post of India’s head coach after Ravi Shastri’s tenure ended after the ICC World Cup 2019, where India were knocked out from the semi-final after losing to New Zealand by 18 runs. Shastri along with Sanjay Bangar and Bharat have been given an extension till the West Indies tour, which is slated to begin from August 3, it is unlikely that all three of them will continue hold their positions after the tour. All three however, automatically enter the selection process but will still have to apply.
“Last time, the captain (Kohli) had expressed his difficulty, or the team’s difficulty, with former coach Anil Kumble. In the new selection process, he will have absolutely no say with regards to who becomes the coach. This time, we have Kapil Dev in the coach selection committee, and he will not listen to him (Kohli),” a BCCI official said.
The trio of Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad and Shantha Rangaswamy will go ahead with the coach selection process and the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators will give its approval for the same, no member of the current India squad will be consulted, assured the official in the report.
In another noteworthy change, the BCCI has this time around decided to select the support staff along with the head coach, unlike previous occasions where the coach had the freedom of picking his own support staff.
“Support staff will be picked by the selection committee. Normally, we allow the head coach to do that (pick the support staff) for team building. This time, if the head coach is selected (before the selection of the support staff), he might join the process,” the official said.
The BCCI in all probability will announce the next India head coach before the home series against South Africa, starting on September 15.