Ravi Shastri to be a no-show at his head coach interview?

The appointment of the head coach of the Indian Cricket Team is the topic of ongoing discussion almost everywhere. After the infamous Kohli-Kumble debacle became public and Anil Kumble stepped down as the coach, several applications have been made for the position. Ravi Shastri, who has already served as the Team Director in the past, has become the newest addition to the list of applicants.

However, if reports are to be believed, Shastri might be a no-show at the interview for the job, scheduled to be held on the 10th of July. The interview will be conducted by the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), comprising the three stalwarts, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman. The CAC has asked all the applicants to be available for interview in person or via video conferencing in the week after the last date of application (9th July).

Shastri may be out of the country on the interview date

It is extremely possible that Shastri might not make it to his interview. He is currently in London and is expected to be back in India by the third week of July.

This means that he might have to appear for the interview via video conferencing if he’s unable to attend it in person. However, the looming question is if the CAC, and especially Sourav Ganguly will be willing to conduct the interview in such a manner.

Previous run-ins between Sourav Ganguly and Ravi Shastri

Interestingly, Ganguly and Shastri have previously been involved in a war of words over the same issue during the time the latter was appointed as the team director. The former Indian allrounder was on a vacation in Bangkok at the time of the interview and had spoken to the CAC via video conferencing.

An enraged Ganguly had hit out at Shastri for his laid-back attitude and said, “My advice to Ravi is that when the coach of India is selected and one of the most important jobs, he should be in front of the committee and not sit in Bangkok and give a presentation while being on a holiday.”

Other applicants displeased at the developments

With Ravi Shastri applying for the job, several of the other applicants are reportedly unhappy. This maybe because of the open secret of the captain, Virat Kohli being intent to have Shastri as the Head Coach, making him an obvious front-runner for the appointment.

In fact, former Indian batting great, Virender Sehwag had been convinced by the BCCI to apply for the post. With Shastri now being included in the equation, it remains to be seen who’ll be preferred over who. The other applicants for the post comprise Tom Moody, Lalchand Rajput, Doda Ganesh and Richard Pybus.