Internet Desk: The much anticipated announcement of the new coach of the Indian cricket team was postponed on Monday as the three member Cricket Advisory Committee felt they were in no hurry. Sourav Ganguly, the chairman of the committee felt the opinion of Virat Kohli will be very important for them to announce the name of the new coach.
Just a couple of days back, the former India captain in an interview to xtratime.in said, “The opinion of Virat will be important as he is the one who will be leading the team along with the new coach. Whatever decision we take will be fair for the interest of the Indian cricket.”
“Virat also needs to know how coaches would function,” said Ganguly while addressing the media in Mumbai.
The Cricket Advisory Committee will again meet Virat when he returns back to India after his vacation in America on July 17.
The committee interviewed five applicants including Ravi Shastri, Virender Sehwag, Tom Moody, Richard Pybus and Lalchand Rajput. Former West Indies opener Phil Simmons was not present for the interview.
“All three of us has taken the interview of all the five candidates present. Phil Simmons was not present for the interview,” said Ganguly.
It was reported that Shastri was the front runner to take the post, but the CAC kept the decision on hold as the committee felt the presentation of all the applicants were impressive.
“We are in no hurry to make the announcement as whoever is appointed will stay on till the 2019 World Cup. End of the day it is the players who will be playing so it is very important what the players want from the coach. Let Virat return from America, we will have a word with him,” said Sourav.
On being asked whether the committee was biased or not, Ganguly commented, “We all tried to be honest and were not against anyone.”
The delay in the coach announcement will mean that Sanjay Bangar will take the team to Sri Lanka. The new coach is likely to join the team in Sri Lanka.