Mike Hesson, Tom Moody shortlisted; Ravi Shastri in fray for Indian cricket team coach spot

The race for the post of the Indian cricket team head coach has intensified with six candidates being shortlisted. They are former New Zealand coach Mike Hesson, ex-Australia all-rounder and Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody, former West Indies all-rounder and Afghanistan coach Phil Simmons, ex-India team manager Lalchand Rajput and former India fielding coach Robin Singh. The sixth name in the fray is current head coach Ravi Shastri, who has gotten an extension until the end of the West Indies series.

The candidates will give a presentation to the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) headed by Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad and Shantha Rangaswamy. A final decision will be arrived at by end of this week or early next week.

A senior BCCI official, speaking to PTI, had revealed the names in an interview. "These six will give presentation for head coach before CAC. It has been learnt that these six have been short-listed for interview with the CAC."

All the six candidates have tremendous coaching pedigree. Hesson was part of the New Zealand team and was at the helm when they reached the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 where they lost to Australia. Recently, Hesson parted ways with Kings XI Punjab after being in the team for just one year. 

Simmons has had coaching experience with Ireland and Afghanistan and he helped the West Indies win the World T20 for the second time in 2016. Moody has coached the Sri Lankan side and has enjoyed success with Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League.
Among the Indians, Rajput was the manager of the Indian cricket team which won the inaugural World T20 in 2007 under the leadership of MS Dhoni while Robin Singh was the fielding coach. Under Shastri, India scaled the No.1 Test ranking and Virat Kohli's team won a Test series Down Under for the first time. 

Kohli had said that he is in favour of Shastri continuing as the head coach of the Indian team despite the criticism he faced following the semi-final ouster from the World Cup.

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HIGHLIGHTS

• Lalchand Rajput was at the helm when India won the 2007 World T20.
• Under Ravi Shastri, India won a Test series Down Under for the first time.
• Tom Moody, Phil Simmons and Mike Hesson are the foreign candidates shortlisted.