I’m the man because of WC 2007: Haynes

He sought to dispel doubts over his coaching pedigree. ‘‘I’ve been coaching all my life’’, he said. ‘‘I’ve done Western Province, Sussex, Hampshire and Barbados. I still coach children in Barbados every Saturday. And I’ve coached guys like Jacques Kallis and Herschelle Gibbs.’’

Haynes believes that the Indian team is very talented and the only thing a coach needs to do is get each player’s effort out on the field.

The BCCI’s six-member special committee, chaired by its president Ranbir Singh Mahendra, will interview all four candidates in New Delhi next Thursday. Board secretary SK Nair said relevant letters had been sent to all four candidates — Haynes, Greg Chappell, Tom Moody and Mohinder Amarnath.

Interestingly, Nair also revealed that former England off-spinner John Emburey had been in the fray but, along with Sandeep Patil, turned it down because of current coaching assignments.

‘‘It’s a job I want to do’’, Emburey told The Indian Express, ‘‘but the short notice at which I have been offered the opportunity restricts me from taking it up. I could take it up in four months time.’’

Emburey is currently coaching Middlesex and though he has not officially turned down the offer, said he would request the BCCI for more time.

That probably won’t work. ‘‘We cannot give him any more time. We need to have a coach ready by next month’’, Nair said.

However, Emburey’s predicament only exposes the Board’s dilatory tactics despite knowing that John Wright was going to quit six months in advance. ‘‘Had this offer come earlier, I would have not missed it for the world. After all it is the biggest coaching job in world cricket today’’, Emburey said.

Patil is currently coaching Oman and is guiding the Gulf nation in the ICC Trophy tournament, to be held in Ireland next month, from which five teams would qualify for the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.

The pullout of the man who briefly coached the Indian team in 1996 raised the question: Why did he apply at all? ‘‘Patil did not apply. For that matter no one applied for the jobs. The names were discussed in the meeting and they were informed about it’’, the BCCI’s Gautam Dasgupta said.