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[Saba Sports News] The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has reportedly received over 3000 applications for the high-profile role of head coach for the senior men’s team. Among these were prank entries from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, and Home Minister Amit Shah, drawing widespread attention.
The recruitment process was initiated in anticipation of current head coach Rahul Dravid’s tenure ending with the T20 World Cup 2024. The BCCI opened applications publicly via an online form, unintentionally allowing prank submissions under famous names. Other prank entries included former cricketers MS Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, and Virender Sehwag.
A BCCI official told NDTV, “Last year too, the BCCI received such a response where imposters applied, and the story is similar this time. The reason the BCCI had to invite applications on Google forms is it’s easy to scrutinize the names of applicants in one sheet.”
A recent BCCI advertisement outlined the head coach’s responsibilities, emphasizing the development of a world-class Indian cricket team and the overall management of the team across all formats.
Among the serious contenders, former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir is reportedly the frontrunner. Currently a mentor for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL, Gambhir guided the team to their third IPL title.
The BCCI remains tight-lipped about the actual applicant pool and their credentials. BCCI Secretary Jay Shah recently stated that no former Australian cricketers were approached for the head coach position.
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