New Delhi: Spin bowling great Anil Kumble is among the biggest names to have applied for the high-profile job as India head coach, according to media reports.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said Sunday that it had received 57 applications for the post but did not reveal any names.
Former team director Ravi Shastri, current chief selector Sandeep Patil and ex-pace bowler Venkatesh Prasad were among a few top former players who made their coaching intentions public.
But on Monday, Kumble, who has mentored Indian Premier League sides such as Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore, was reported to have also thrown his hat in the ring. “Yes, I have applied,” the former India skipper was quoted as saying by The Indian Express newspaper.
The 45-year-old bagged 619 Test wickets in 132 matches and is only the second bowler in cricket history after England’s Jim Laker to have taken all 10 in a Test innings. Kumble has previously served as the president of his state association in Karnataka and headed BCCI’s technical committee. He is currently the chairman of the ICC cricket committee.
However Kumble does not fit the BCCI criteria of having “coached a cricket team of any of the member countries of the ICC (International Cricket Council), at the first class or at the International level”.
Overseas coaches such as Australia’s Stuart Law and Dav Whatmore, who was recently sacked by Zimbabwe, are also being floated by India’s media as possible applicants.
The list will now be pruned by board secretary Ajay Shirke and the appointment of the new coach is expected to be made before India’s tour to the West Indies in July.

India keen to host day-night test against NZ
Plans to host a first day-night Test in India later this year remain intact, the country’s cricket board (BCCI) secretary said yesterday, dismissing a local media report that prospective opponents New Zealand had rejected the idea.
In April, the BCCI decided that one match of a three-Test series against New Zealand would be a day-night affair, pending trials of the pink-ball in a domestic tournament, with Kolkata’s Eden Gardens a popular choice for the contest.
A local media report claimed New Zealand Cricket (NZC) were wary of the dew factor and ground conditions in India during the series scheduled to start in September and had conveyed their reluctance to BCCI officials.
BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke, in a text message to Reuters, said the plan remained very much on. An NZC spokesman confirmed New Zealand, who played the first pink-ball Test against Australia in November, were committed to a day-night Test in India.
“NZC has taken the precaution of contacting the BCCI to advise statements in the article regarding a day-night Test are in no way representative of our position, and that no such comments have been made by our Board,” the spokesperson told www.stuff.co.nz.
“The only comment NZC has made on the matter is that it’s supportive of the concept and that stance hasn’t changed.”