BCCI Says Next Head Coach Should be Below 60, Need To Have Minimum Two Years International Experience

After the West Indies tour, India's home season kicks off with a series against South Africa, beginning September 15.

The Indian cricket board Tuesday invited applications for the men’s team support staff including the head coach who will need to be less than 60 years of age with a minimum international experience of two years. The BCCI has streamlined the process of hiring the support staff including head coach, batting coach, bowling coach, fielding coach, physiotherapist, strength and conditioning coach and administrative manager. The application deadline for all the roles is 5 PM, July 30.

Before Ravi Shastri was appointed as the head coach in July 2017, the BCCI had issued a nine-point eligibility criteria which lacked focus and clarity. This time, it is only a three-point criteria for all the coaching roles including head coach besides the positions in the batting, bowling and fielding department. “The current coaching staff of Team India will get an automatic entry in the recruitment process,” said the BCCI in a statement.

The head coach should have coached a Test-playing nation for a minimum of two years or three years with an associate member/A team/IPL side. The applicant also should have played 30 Tests or 50 ODIs. The criteria remains the same for batting, bowling and fielding coach except the number of games played. The three personnel should have played at least 10 Tests or 25 ODIs and be less than 60 years of age.

The current support staff comprising Shastri, bowling coach Bharat Arun, batting coach Sanjay Bangar and fielding coach R Sridhar were given a 45-day extension following the World Cup, covering the West Indies tour from August 3 to September 3. All of them can re-apply but the team is set to have a new trainer and physio after the departure of Shankar Basu and Patrick Farhart following India’s semifinal exit in the World Cup.

After the West Indies tour, India’s home season kicks off with a series against South Africa, beginning September 15. Shastri was appointed India chief coach in 2017 after Anil Kumble’s tenure ended prematurely in controversial circumstances. The 57-year-old was also India’s director of cricket from August 2014 to June 2016. India have not won a major ICC event under his guidance though the team did make history by winning a maiden Test series in Australia earlier this year.