Indian captain Virat Kohli is unlikely to be included in the selection process for the new head coach.
The selection process for India’s new coaching staff will begin after the side’s tour to the West Indies, scheduled to start from August 3. Team India will play three T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests in the West Indies.
The Kapil Dev-led three-member CAC will lead the selection process, and the vacancies for the positions were posted by the BCCI earlier this week.
According to a report in The Indian Express, Indian captain Virat Kohli will have no say in the process.
“Last time, the captain (Kohli) had expressed his difficulty, or the team’s difficulty, with former coach Anil Kumble. In the new selection process, he will have absolutely no say with regards to who becomes the coach. This time, we have Kapil Dev in the coach selection committee, and he will not listen to him (Kohli),” a BCCI official told the newspaper.
In another change to the procedure, the selection committee (CAC) will also pick the support staff for the coach. However, this can change if the head coach is selected before the support staff, in which case the coach may join the process as well.
However, he will not have the outright authority for the same.
“Support staff will be picked by the selection committee. Normally, we allow the head coach to do that (pick the support staff) for team building. This time, if the head coach is selected (before the selection of the support staff), he might join the process,” the official said.
The current India coaching staff, including head coach Ravi Shastri, bowling coach Bharat Arun, batting coach Sanjay Bangar and fielding coach R Sridhar were given a 45-day extension following the World Cup, covering the West Indies tour from August 3 to September 3.
All of them can reapply but the team is set to have a new trainer and physio after the departure of Shankar Basu and Patrick Farhart respectively following India's semifinal exit in the World Cup.
After the West Indies tour, India's home season kicks off with the series against South Africa beginning September 15.
Shastri was appointed India chief coach in 2017 after Anil Kumble's tenure ended prematurely in controversial circumstances.
The 57-year-old was also India's director of cricket from August 2014 to June 2016.
However, India have not won a major ICC event under his guidance though the team did make history by winning a maiden Test series in Australia earlier this year.
