Vinod Rai overrules CAC, asks BCCI to name India coach by Tuesday evening

New Delhi: The never ending drama in the quest to find India’s head coach has been fuelled even more by the Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators’ (COA) chairman Vinod Rai directing the BCCI to name Anil Kumble’s replacement by Tuesday evening.

Vinod Rai’s statement comes hours after Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) chairman Sourav Ganguly sought for more time and a possible discussion with skipper Virat Kohli before naming the new India head coach. 

"Mr. Rai has asked the BCCI to announce the name of the head coach by Tuesday evening. He has spoken to the BCCI CEO Rahul Johri and to the BCCI acting Secretary Amitabh Choudhary and asked them to name the head coach.’’ A reliable source was quoted as saying by the Sportstar.

"The process is done. All presentations were outstanding. We just want to talk more with people who matter. We all have to be on the same page. Whoever comes will be in charge till the 2019 World Cup. Virat will need to understand how coaches operate. We will have a detailed chat with him once he is back from the West Indies," Ganguly had said on Monday evening.

Virat Kohli is expected to return to India from the Caribbean on July 17 after taking some time off from cricket.

Interestingly, the BCCI had cleared just after the CAC’s announcement that Virat Kohli’s opinion will be sought but the final call will be taken by the CAC comprising of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman.

"Let's get one thing straight. The final decision maker is the CAC and not Virat Kohli. When Sourav said that he will speak to Virat, he meant that once he is back from a break, he will be told what CAC feels about each candidate that they interviewed and why they are choosing a particular candidate," said a senior BCCI official. 

Virender Sehwag, Ravi Shastri, Tom Moody, Richard Pybuss and Lalchand Rajpoot were the ones interviewed by the CAC on Monday.