Hunt for new Indian coach to begin tomorrow

Bangalore, June 3 (UNI) Australian Dav Whatmore, the only noticeable contender for the Indian Cricket Coach's job, is all set to clinch it when the Coach Selection Committee of the BCCI meets here tomorrow to decide on the appointment of the new coach.

The Committee, headed by BCCI President Sharad Pawar, would meet tomorrow night and the only name tipped to succeed Greg Chappell was that of the former Australian batsman.

Apart from Mr Pawar, the Committee comprised three former Indian captains, Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and S Venkataraghavan, BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah, Joint Secretary M P Pandov and Treasurer N Srinivasan.

According to BCCI sources, the announcement of the new Coach was likely to be made on June 12 when the all-powerful Working Committee of the BCCI would meet in New Delhi to ratify the decision of the Coach Selection Committee. The services of specialists like bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad and fielding coach Robin Singh, who were appointed for the recently-concluded Bangladesh tour, were likely to continue even after the appointment of a full time coach, the sources said.

Mr Shah had recently conceded that he did have a discussion with Whatmore in Bangladesh and said he was 'satisfied' with the 'short meeting'.

If whatmore's name is cleared, it would be the third time that a foreign coach would be appointed. Earlier, John Wright, who proved to be the most successful coach of India, became the first coach from a foreign soil. He was followed by Chappell who had a rather chequered stint, with India's first round exit in the World Cup being the lowest ebb.

Meanwhile, the BCCI Technical Committee would also meet here tomorrow, with discussion on the format of Ranji Trophy being top on the agenda. The Board was likely to prune the number of teams in the Elite division to ten.

UNI