Appointment of India coach could take another month

The Board of Control for Cricket in India will probably take another month to appoint a coach for the national team.

"We contacted our counterparts in cricket boards in England and Australia telling them our requirement. If they have someone who matches what we need, they will recommend some names to us," Sharad Pawar, president of the Indian board, said in Bangalore on Friday. "There is a committee appointed to look into this and it will probably take a month's time before we can make an appointment."

On the issue of the Indian Cricket League (ICL), which has seen some heated words being exchanged in the media, Pawar said the BCCI was not against former cricketers running coaching programs or playing matches but insisted it was the board's prerogative to organise all official cricket in India.

One of those exchanges has involved Kapil Dev, who heads the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and has also joined the ICL. When asked if Indian cricket might be better served by Kapil Dev developing young cricketers through the NCA rather than through the ICL, Pawar said, "He seems to be very busy elsewhere."

Asked if the appointment of high-profile cricketers to committees and academies was causing more trouble than good, Pawar said, "We appointed Kapil here at the NCA in good faith. He was a great cricketer and won the World Cup for India. But he's busy with other things. Even Sunil Gavaskar has been head of committees and they have a lot of experience and expertise. So I won't say it is trouble."

The prime reason Pawar addressed the press conference, though he insisted this was not the case, was to show support to the powers that be in Karnataka cricket with elections round the corner. Flanked by Brijesh Patel, the secretary of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) and Gundappa Viswanath, the presidential candidate from the Patel panel, he said, "I have got some reports regarding the BCCI president's involvement in the KSCA elections. When I took the responsibility of leading the BCCI, this time I was elected unopposed. I have to act in such a way that I don't, directly or indirectly support any one group or the other."

Having said that, Pawar made it clear where he stood: "I must say that some state associations have been continuously doing good work in the development of cricket, cricket infrastructure and promoting young cricketers. The KSCA is one of them, so also the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, Mumbai Cricket Association and the Punjab Cricket Association.

"The work in Karnataka, both here in Bangalore and in the districts, has helped Indian cricket in that it has produced someone who is leading the country, in Rahul Dravid, and a record-breaking bowler in Anil Kumble, and now Robin Uthappa has come into the side," said Pawar. "The BCCI doesn't want to take any sides in the KSCA elections, but this development work must continue."

However, Pawar had recently met Vijay Mallya, the industrialist and Rajya Sabha MP, who has thrown his weight behind Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, the man opposing the ruling Patel faction. When asked about this Pawar made light of the matter, saying, "I fly on Mr. Mallya's plane and I know him as someone who has been acquiring many companies. But when we had a chat recently I was surprised when he [Mallya] told me of his interest in entering Karnataka cricket."

The date for the KSCA elections is yet to be announced although the constitution stipulates that elections must be held on or before September 30 and that the date for the election must be announced at least 15 days before they are to be held.