Ashwin's childhood coach is front-runner to become the manager of Indian team

The race of becoming the head coach of the Indian team has finished now after weeks of drama. Former Indian all-rounder Ravi Shastri emerged as the winner in that race. It is past now but a new race has begun. The winner of this race gets the lucrative job of manager of the men in blue. The man who is currently the front-runner in this race is the childhood coach of national team spinner R Ashwin.

BCCI has received many applications for the vacant post and the officials sat down to filter the list. Amongst the short-listed candidates, the first name that is bound to grab anyone’s attention is Sunil Subramaniam, the former Tamil Nadu based left-arm spinner. The rest of the notables include former Gujarat player Prakash Bhatt, Delhi’s medium pacer Shankar Saini, Services player Arman Malik and Baroda’s batsman Rakesh Parikh.

“Yes, Sunil Subramaniam, a former left-arm spinner from Tamil Nadu is among the shortlisted candidates. He has the most impressive CV with a first-class record having played more than 70 games at the domestic level,” said an official while speaking to PTI on the condition of anonymity.

The short-listed candidates’ credentials

Sunil has played 74 matches in the domestic circuit for Tamil Nadu and Assam and has picked up 285 wickets. Even after becoming a famous cricketer, Ashwin often came to seek knowledge from him. Gujrat’s Prakash Bhatt was a right-handed batter and has played 51 matches for his state. Former services player Arman Malik has worked as the administrative manager of the Mumbai team. U-19 selector Rakesh Parikh, who has played 50 matches for Baroda has also thrown his hat in the ring.

The most controversial name in the list is Shankar Saini, the former medium pacer of Delhi who has played 20 matches for the state. Saini was the manager of the Delhi team in Odisha, where Gautam Gambhir had an ugly spat with coach KP Bhaskar. Later, DDCA administrator suspended Gautam on the basis of the confidential letter written by Saini.