No India coach yet despite CoA's push

By Tuesday evening, no decision had been reached on the next coach of India, despite the Committee of Administrators' urging the BCCI to make a decision as soon as possible

A BCCI official said the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), which was tasked with finalising India's new head coach, was yet to arrive at a unanimous choice, but was hopeful that a decision would be made on Tuesday night.

"CoA has advised us to that effect and rightly," the official said. "We are also of the same view."

The official, though, said the BCCI was not pushing the CAC to make a hurried decision. "Nobody is pushing them," he said. "There is no problem, and they are also equally sensitive to the fact that the conversation should be comprehensive. But it should also be time-sensitive."

The CAC, comprising former India cricketers Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar, had interviewed five candidates in Mumbai on Monday, and said they would make their final decision after speaking with captain Virat Kohli. Ganguly even hinted that India could embark on their tour of Sri Lanka with the current set-up of batting and fielding coaches, but no head coach or bowling coach.

ESPNcricinfo understands that CoA chairman Vinod Rai suggested to the BCCI that if a decision had been made it was best to announce the final pick and end all uncertainty and speculation. Rai offered that suggestion once he was told that there was a difference of opinion within the CAC as to when they should finalise their choice.

Ganguly indicated that the CAC had not expected the CoA to push so strongly for a quick announcement.

"We'll speak to him. He's a very respected man, Mr. Vinod Rai, and I will speak to him this afternoon," Ganguly said. "I was supposed to go to Delhi, so obviously that's been cancelled now because of this. We'll speak to him, because what all was announced yesterday was with all permission and everybody was informed about it."

Although the CoA had not been involved in the interview process, it was happy with the CAC's decision to speak to Kohli on his return from the USA to discuss the issue before announcing the new coach.

"The COA was fine with the CAC having a discussion with Virat - not about him getting involved with their decision, but whatever decision they made surrounding the coach," a BCCI official said. "There is no harm in having a discussion with the captain saying we have gone through a process, this is the individual that we believe is good for the team. These are his views in terms of how he views his role. Hopefully this will work out so that there is no repeat of the Kumble situation. So there is no harm in a having a transparent conversation and then making it public."