Perfect 10 Anil Kumble is new Indian cricket coach

Putting an end to all the speculations, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday named former India captain Anil Kumble as the head coach of the Indian cricket team for a period of one year.

“After discussions we have taken a final call that for one year Anil Kumble will be the head coach. We are glad to say that BCCI has been very transparent as far as selection of Head coach is concerned,” BCCI President Anurag Thakur said.

The post of head coach was vacant after Duncan Fletcher's contract expired at the end of the 2015 World Cup. Ravi Shastri was the team’s director since the ODI series in England in August 2014. His contract ended after India bowed out at the semifinal stage of the World T20.

In Kolkata, BCCI had shortlisted the candidates, who were later interviewed by the three-member BCCI’s cricket advisory committee comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman.

The seven shortlisted candidates included Anil Kumble, Ravi Shastri, Lalchand Rajput, Praveen Ambre, Tom Moody, Stuart Law and Andy Moles.

Ravi Shastri and Anil Kumble were the two most high-profile names out of the ones who were shortlisted. While Kumble was interviewed in person, Shastri gave the presentation via video conferencing as he is currently said to be abroad.

The BCCI had received 57 applications for the post and short it down to 21 before handing over the list to CAC that interviewed the candidates shortlisted by them.