On the face of it, the two former Indian cricketers do-not seem to have much in common — one is India’s leading spin bowler, the other one of the country’s most dashing all-rounders; one is known to be a soft-spoken administrator, the other a passionate commentator. But they are the two front runners for the post of one of international cricket’s most coveted jobs — Team India’s head coach.
From 57 to 21 to two — the race to become India’s next coach has garnered much interest ever since BCCI threw open the door by inviting formal applications. After an unprecedented 57 people applied, including marquee names like Sandeep Patil, Tom Moody, Lalchand Rajput and Venkatesh Prasad, the list was culled to 21 with a little help from the Cricket Advisory Committee. This committee, made up of three Indian legends Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, sat through presentations and conducted interviews, and have reportedly narrowed it down to Shastri and Kumble.
The role of the advisory committee in this process is interesting, because Sachin, Sourav and Laxman have all been closely involved with both applicants. They shared the dressing room with Kumble for over a decade and they were the ones who chose Shastri as Team Director after the tenure of Duncan Fletcher ended.
With the BCCI conclave underway in Dharamsala, the announcement is expected to take place on Thursday evening. With a packed cricket calendar coming up and a relatively young side representing India, the job will be an opportunity as much as a challenge. With the debate about who is best suited for the all-important job having polarised opinion, Firstpost asked our cricket writers who they think should be the next head coach, Kumble or Shastri, and why. Here’s what the Firstpost team had to say:
