CHENNAI: The much-awaited announcement about the next India coach has been deferred. Even as the suspense continues, Ravi Shastri is being tipped the frontrunner, while there are other heavyweights like Virender Sehwag and Tom Moody in the fray. The names of Richard Pybus, Phil Simmons and Lalchand Rajput are also doing the rounds, although the cricket fraternity reckons them as too low-profile to manage a star-studded team like India.
Here are some curious questions that we will have the answers to.
1. Will the CAC pick Ravi Shastri now?
This Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) – comprising legends Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman – was formed specifically to select the coach. They have a tricky call to make. Are they going to select prime contender Ravi Shastri now? But hadn’t they rejected him last year, leading to a war of words followed between him and Sourav Ganguly?
2. What about conflict of interest?
VVS Laxman is the mentor of the IPL outfit Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Tom Moody is the coach. So if Moody gets the nod, will it bring up questions about how much influence VVS wielded in the decision?
3. If it’s Ravi, are we back to rank turners?
Being captain Virat Kohli's favourite gives Ravi Shastri a head start. His record as stop-gap coach before Anil Kumble was decent enough. A man of sound tactical undserstanding and a former player of immense courage, he brings a lot to the table. But towards the end of his short tenure, his emphasis on spinning tracks for home matches raised a few eyebrows. If he is selected him now, are we going back to souped-up pitches and three-day Test matches?
4. Tom Moody: Back to a backroom boy?
The Aussie is a coach with a lot of experience in the sub-continent, having coached Sri Lanka, Kings XI Punjab and now Sunrisers. An under-rated all-rounder in his playing days, the 1987 and 1999 World Cup winner with Australia prefers managing things from backstage. Seldom heard, he is in the Gary Kirsten mould. He does what is required without attracting the cameras.
5. Is it going to be Sehwag, the shoot-from-the-hipper?
Although Virender Sehwag’s batting philosophy didn't suggest he is a deep thinker of the game, players and coaches who have seen him from close reckon he's an astute strategist. He was praised for innovative tactics during the few times when he led India in the absence of the regular captain. His handling of things for Kings XI Punjab in this year's IPL was praised by other members of the coaching staff, who said Sehwag pays attention to video analysis and spends long hours in analysing data. But his team's poor record in IPL may work against him.
6. Pybus, Simmons, Rajput: Do they stand a chance?
That's quite a mixed bag. There is experience in Richard Pybus, a South African who has coached Pakistan. Simmons has an impressive record as coach of smaller teams like Ireland and Afghanistan. Lalchand Rajput was stop-gap coach when India won the WT20 in 2007 and a tri-series in Australia in 2008. Having said that, do you really see them coaching a squad led by Virat Kohli? Rajput said Kumble's departure was “unfortunate”. Did he speak too soon?