Kapil Dev-led CAC to pick India’s next head coach
Kapil, Gaekwad and Rangaswamy had picked WV Raman as the Indian women’s team head coach last year. But CoA member Diana Edulji has taken the matter before the BCCI ethics officer, Justice (Retd) DK Jain.
The ad-hoc committee comprising Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad and Shantha Rangaswamy will complete the interview process of the candidates, aspiring to be the new head coach of the Indian team by August 15, The Indian Express understands. On Friday, the Committee of Administrators (CoA) formed the three-member ad-hoc committee to pick the new head coach, because the erstwhile Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) is now defunct.
“One member of the CAC (Sachin Tendulkar) has recused himself, while the other two (Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman) have conflict issues. That’s why the CoA had to create an ad-hoc committee. The CAC comprising Tendulkar, Ganguly and Laxman doesn’t exist,” sources close to the CoA said.
The BCCI has invited applications for the post of the Indian team head coach and support staff and the three-point eligibility criteria for the head coach states that the applicant should have coaching experience of a Test playing nation for a minimum of two years or three years with an associate member/A team/IPL side. The applicant also should have played 30 Tests or 50 ODIs and must be below 60 years of age. The eligibility criteria remains the same for batting, bowling and fielding coaches except the number of matches played. The three personnel should have played at least 10 Tests or 25 ODIs. The current coaching staff headed by Ravi Shastri will get an automatic entry in the recruitment process but they have to re-apply. Deadline for submitting the application is July 30, 5pm. The ad-hoc committee, however, will only pick the new head coach, while the selection committee will select the supporting staff.
Kapil, Gaekwad and Rangaswamy had picked WV Raman as the Indian women’s team head coach last year. But CoA member Diana Edulji has taken the matter before the BCCI ethics officer, Justice (Retd) DK Jain.
“She (Edulji) hasn’t questioned the (ad-hoc) committee. She has questioned the process by which the women’s team coach was appointed. Today she was a party to the decision (to appoint Kapil, Gaekwad and Rangaswamy to pick the men’s team head coach). She had a difference of opinion and there were only two members in the CoA then. Despite the difference, the CoA chairman had prevailed. Now she has questioned that,” said a BCCI functionary.
Kapil’s involvement in setting up the players’ association as per the Lodha reforms was another issue for the CoA to look into; if his presence in the committee could create any potential conflict. “Kapil Dev was in the working committee to set up the players’ association. He is not in the players’ association as yet. He will have to be elected to get there. So there’s no conflict. There’s no problem at all,” the board functionary explained.
The Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association member Sanjeev Gupta, though, has sent an email to the BCCI ethics officer, challenging the CoA’s decision to set up an ad-hoc committee to pick the head coach. “It is blatant mockery of Rule 24(5) and Rule 26(2)A(ii) (of the BCCI constitution), as power of appointing head coach vested with the CAC under rule 24(5) and not with any other committee,” he has written. Gupta had earlier lodged conflict of interest complaints against Tendulkar and Laxman. The latter, along with Ganguly were found to be in positions of conflict of interest by Justice Jain but Tendulkar had been cleared, as he officially recused himself from the CAC.
