Hunt for India's new coach: Lalchand Rajput lambasts BCCI for inviting more applications after original deadline

New Delhi: Respected coach Lalchand Rajput has lambasted the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for its decision to invite more applications for the post of India's head coach. The Indian cricket board is looking to fill the post vacated by Anil Kumble on Tuesday.

Speaking to CricketNext, the current Afghanistan coach said BCCI's move is not only humiliating to those who have already applied for the post but also reflects the board's unprofessional handling of the matter.

"It is humiliating for sure. To have submitted the resume, to have been short-listed and to be now told that fresh applications will also be accepted is highly unprofessional on the part of the BCCI. It does show that the board never had faith in the other five candidates apart from Kumble and once he stepped down, they need new names to pick from," he was quoted as saying.

Taking the opportunity, Rajput also stated that a coach does not necessarily need to have an impeccable record while as a player.

"I don't know why people keep confusing the idea that coaching a team and having been a good player are the same. You can be the best player in the business, but that doesn't guarantee success as a coach. You need to have technical knowledge and some sort of experience in coaching. To have played for the country and to step in and coach a team isn't how professional set-ups work. Take a look at how Bayliss has taken English cricket forward. Or, you can also check Domingo's record with the Proteas. Clearly you don't need to be a great player to be a good coach. The BCCI needs to understand this," he reiterated.

The 55-year-old is one of the six men — including Kumble — who have met the original deadline of May 31 to submit their applications. Virender Sehwag, Tom Moody, Richard Pybus and Doda Ganesh are the other applicants.

Interestingly, former Australia bowling coach Craig McDermott's application was rejected on the grounds that it came after the deadline.

Earlier, the BCCI said that Kumble's candidature had been taken automatically as he was the incumbent. But the former leggie did submit his application to fulfill the criteria.

Then, came Kumble's acrimonious exit as the coach. It prompted the board to call for more entries, claiming that such a move will allow Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) a wide range of options before finalising on the new coach.

In their defence, a BCCI official had said that the presence of Kumble would have deterred many qualified candidates from applying, thinking "that what’s the need to apply when the current coach is doing well and is in the mix."

But "now the situation has completely changed. A lot of people will now be interested knowing it’s an open field," he added.

Here, it's pertinent to mention that since Kumble's resignation, former Team Director Ravi Shastri has come to the fore with many claiming he is indeed the front man to claim the top job, especially considering his rapport with skipper Kohli.

However, there were reports that Shastri was hesitant to apply for the post for the sake of it, and he will apply only if he is assured of the post.

Meanwhile, coach-less Indian cricket team are in the West Indies for a short limited-overs series. The first of the five ODIs will be played today at Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain. The ODI series will be followed by a lone T20I match.