Kumble re-applies, India’s next coach before Champions Trophy ends

ESPNCricinfo: Anil Kumble will be in the running once again to be coach of India after he officially re-applied for the post - this despite the BCCI having said there was no need for a formal application as he would be a “direct entry” into a final pool. Kumble is part of a six-man shortlist that includes Virender Sehwag, Tom Moody, Richard Pybus, Lalchand Rajput, and Dodda Ganesh, all candidates who will be interviewed by the three-member cricket advisory committee (CAC).

Craig McDermott, the former Australian fast bowler had also sent an application but that arrived after the May 31 deadline. The CAC will assess the application and determine his eligibility for the interview.

The CAC trio of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman is likely to meet this week - most probably Tuesday or Wednesday - to finalise the process and interview schedule. The BCCI wants to identify a candidate before the Champions Trophy ends on June 18, as India travel to the Caribbean immediately after for a limited-overs series.

Anil Kumble

Kumble’s one-year contract was always due to end after the Champions Trophy, but instead of continuing a successful arrangement, the BCCI opted to advertise for fresh interviews. In large part, this is thought to be because the BCCI was concerned by player feedback on Kumble: some of the players, including the Indian captain Virat Kohli, have said they were uncomfortable with the “intimidating” style of Kumble’s man management.

That has not deterred Kumble, whose application was one of the first to arrive when the application process opened on May 25. As well as his CV, Kumble has sent a detailed roadmap outlining his vision for the future of the Indian team.

The BCCI and the Committee of Administrators (CoA) told Kumble in person that fresh applications will be considered once his contract ended when they met on the eve of the IPL final in Hyderabad. That meeting, incidentally, was for Kumble to make a detailed presentation on an upgrading of the contracts of Indian players and coaching staff; it is an issue on which Kumble and Kohli are very much on the same page.

The new coach, whoever it is, is likely to get a two-year contract with the 2019 World Cup as a main target.