Kapil Dev-led CAC panel will pick new Indian coach, says Vinod Rai

07/27/2019

Supreme Court-appointed CoA chief Vinod Rai confirmed that the committee has decided that a Cricket Advisory Committee led by Kapil Dev will be in-charge of selecting the new head coach for Team India. The three-member committee will also include Shantha Rangaswamy and Anshuman Gaekwad.

Although the BCCI themselves are not keen on a new head coach being appointed at this critical juncture in Indian cricket, the Committee of Administrators are firm on the matter. Interviews for the position is expected to be conducted in mid-August.

Applications for the same will be entertained till July 30. The current head coach, Ravi Shastri — who was handed an extension till the end of the West Indies tour — will have to reapply for the position.

However, the final decision on who should lead Indian cricket forward from behind the scenes, has been entrusted to the CAC panel. Apart from Kapil, the panel comprises former women's captain Rangaswamy and former men's coach Gaekwad.

"This CAC (Kapil, Shantha and Anshuman) will only pick the next India coach and it is absolutely legal," Rai told PTI after the CoA meeting in New Delhi yesterday.

However, both Kapil and Rangaswamy are also involved with the formation of the Indian Cricketers' Association (ICA), which was approved by the BCCI earlier this week. This lands both of them in a possible conflict-of-interest issue as per the BCCI constitution. Ethics officer D K Jain will now decide if their roles are conflicted or not.

"These three will pick the men's coach. It is not an ad-hoc body. But this all is subject to conflict of interest and they will give us an undertaking. The interviews of the candidates are expected to take place in mid-August," Rai added.

Asked if captain Virat Kohli will have any say in the process, Rai said, "No, he has no opinion."