Team India head coach hunt: Sehwag running ahead of Ravi Shastri in race, say sources

In a race of becoming the Indian cricket team head coach, former explosive batsman Virender Sehwag is now running ahead of the former director of team India Ravi Shastri, said sources.

The three-member panel comprising former Indian batsmen Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman interviewed five candidates on 10 July in Mumbai.

Earlier, Ravi Shastri was the front-runner but according to the sources, Sehwag may prove to be a great competitor for him.

As indicated by the Cricket Next's report, the Cricket Advisory Committee was inspired with Sehwag's vision and conceived that Sehwag is the correct man for bearing the responsibility of Indian cricket team.

But there is final yes to be taken from Indian skipper Virat Kohli on the matter.

“The CAC met the five candidates available — Shastri, Sehwag, Richard Pybus, Tom Moody and Lalchand Rajput. And while everyone put in a good presentation, three men who stood out were Shastri, Sehwag and Moody. But after much deliberation and looking at the pros and cons, the CAC believes that Sehwag is the right candidate for the job as he impressed with his vision for the 2019 World Cup. Also, Sehwag had to answer the tricky question of how he would handle the coach-captain scenario and he was clear that cricket was a game where the captain held fort and the coach’s job was to man the backroom," a source was quoted as saying by Cricket Next.

The BCCI had received 10 applications for the post of Indian team coach. Ravi Shastri, Virender Sehwag, Tom Moody, Richard Pybus, Doda Ganesh, Lalchand Rajput, Lance Klusener, Rakesh Sharma, Phil Simmons and Upendra Brahmachari had applied for this post. Out of 10 applicants, only 6 were shortlisted for an interview.

After the West Indies tournament, team India will fly to Sri Lanka for a tour on 26 July.

There is no official confirmation of final date on which the name of Indian coach will be announced.