Three-member committee including Sachin Tendulkar (via video conference), Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, interviewed as many as seven candidates in a marathon session during which the candidates gave insight on their individual roadmaps for Indian cricket.
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Anil Kumble pipped Ravi Shastri to be India’s head coach for the next one year.
The 45-year-old was among 57 applicants who applied for the position earlier this month.
Former Indian cricketers Anil Kumble, Pravin Amre and Lalchand Rajput, along with other aspirants were interviewed on Tuesday.
The post of head coach had fallen vacant following the expiry of Duncan Fletcher’s contract at the end of the 2015 World Cup. Their presentations – how they will take Indian cricket forward.
Kumble, who is fondly called Jumbo by his teammates and fans for his ability to bounce the ball, has been the highest wicket taker for India till date.
The BCCI president Anurag Thakur in a statement confirmed Kumble’s appointment. This is also keeping in mind that they are close to the panel and are generally high-profile names in the sport, a criteria that is said to be important as far as picking the India coach is concerned.
Kumble has no coaching experience but has mentored Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Mumbai Indians (MI) in the IPL.
The BCCI said that Kumble will be now transforming himself from a great cricketer to coach, and that’s why he has been appointed for an year as of now. “The coach’s role is always in the background and it is the players who come first always”, Anil Kumble told Times Now.
Sourav Ganguly had said that the committee has not discussed the finalization of coach’s name with India’s One day and T20 captain MS Dhoni and Test captain Virat Kohli, as the committee is empowered to do so. He is the only player to have taken all 10 wickets in an innings and also scored a century in Tests.
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Dharamsala: BCCI President Anurag Thakur wants the media managers of various state associations to focus more on “engagement with fans as well as mediapersons” rather than looking after “traditional arrangements”.
