Why India don't have a coach yet
Considering the ECB had appointed Trevor Bayliss as Peter Moores' successor in barely two weeks, ESPNcricinfo tries to dissect the delay in the appointment of India's new coach
The change of administration in the BCCI is a key factor, since the previous regime under the deposed president N Srinivasan had set the ball rolling to find a replacement for Fletcher.
It is still not clear whether the BCCI wants to fill both positions, or just one of them. The popular perception in the board is that a team director aided by three assistant coaches would serve the purpose. The position of team director was created for the first time when former India allrounder Ravi Shastri was appointed after India's defeat in the England Tests. Shastri had agreed to continue in the role as an interim arrangement till the end of the World Cup.
In the six-month period when they functioned together, head coach Fletcher was in charge of preparing the team for matches. Team director Shastri was more of a facilitator between the players, the coach, the selectors and the BCCI. Most of his work was in the background, but he was responsible for the overall performance of the team.
Sourav Ganguly and Ravi Shastri are definitely in the fray, along with a few undisclosed overseas candidates.
Since it is still not clear if the BCCI would prefer a head coach along with team director, no names have emerged so far.
Not really. The BCCI is prepared to wait until it finds the most suitable people. That India's next two assignments - a tour to Bangladesh in June to be followed by a limited-overs series in Zimbabwe in July - are low key gives them time to scan for the best candidate. If the new coach/ team director is not finalised before the team's departure to Dhaka on June 7, then the BCCI may well send a support staff consisting of three assistant coaches without a chief. Or they might request Shastri to continue in the team director's role for another series.
BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya and secretary Anurag Thakur are the two main decision-makers. They are understood to have sought inputs from some former India captains including Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Sunil Gavaskar and Shastri himself to help them shortlist the candidates. The two captains - Dhoni (ODI and Twenty20 captain) and Virat Kohli (Test) - would suggest some names as well and are expected to play prominent roles in the process.
The pair of assistant coaches Sanjay Bangar and B Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar await message from the BCCI about their future.
Amol Karhadkar is a correspondent at ESPNcricinfo. Nagraj Gollapudi is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo