Indian team coach within a month: Pawar

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sharad Pawar says a new coach for Team India will be in place in a months time.

Bangalore, Aug.3 : Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sharad Pawar says a new coach for Team India will be in place in a month's time.

Talking to reporters here on the sidelines of visit being undertaken by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Pawar said that he had had a meeting with members of the Karnataka State Cricket Association.

He emphasised that hiring a coach is top priority for the BCCI and it has written to the cricket boards of Australia, England, West Indies and New Zealand asking them to suggest names of good coaches.

Once the names were in , the BCCI would zero in on one and appoint him.

It may be recalled that in June this year, the BCCI faced major embarrasment when former South African coach Grham Ford had turned down an offer to coach the national side after telling the board that he was keen on taking up the assignment. Ford was chosen by a seven-man committee, which had also listened to a presentation from former England off-spinner John Emburey, the other candidate invited to the meeting in Chennai.

Ford was the players' choice, with the grapevine suggesting that the move for him had been initiated by Rahul Dravid, the Indian captain. After Greg Chappell's tenure, characterised by off-field controversy as much as anything on the field, Ford was seen as the perfect choice to heal the fissures within the Indian team.

The news was a severe blow to the BCCI, which didn't have any other noteworthy candidate lined up once Dav Whatmore was ruled out by the committee.

On the performances of bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad and fielding coach Robin Singh, Pawar said the board is happy, as the duo have made a difference to the team and the players too are happy with them.

ANI