Six to pick one, four in race

‘‘This committee will decide what the procedure should be to select the coach’’, Nair said. ‘‘We have not decided if we want to advertise for the post or just make a selection.’’

While it has been set no deadline, Nair said the Board had until July to decide because India’s next series is in August.

John Wright, he added, had not been asked yet. ‘‘We are expecting him to send us his thoughts on the issue. We could not meet him before he left.’’

Neither had any of the current players been consulted. ‘‘Why do we need to ask the current players? We have gone by past procedure. In fact this time we have three captains instead of one’’, Nair argued.

An Australian candidate is favoured to replace Wright, who worked for five seasons as India’s first foreign coach.

Former Australia captain Greg Chappell and his compatriot Dean Jones have shown interest and have already forwarded their CVs to the BCCI. Former all-rounder Tom Moody is also in contention for the job, especially since he appears to have Wright’s recommendation.

Moody, 39, a member of the World Cup-winning squads of 1987 and 1999, is the director of cricket at English county Worcestershire and known as a hard taskmaster.

The fourth person linked to the post is Dav Whatmore, who guided Sri Lanka to the 1996 World Cup and renewed his contract with Bangladesh last month — though with a get-out clause.

Of course the panel is not without controversy. Former board president Raj Singh Dungarpur, while praising the presence of three former captains, said he wondered what Dalmiya was doing on the panel.

‘‘He has never played cricket in his life. This just proves that he has a strong hold on the BCCI even today. It’s time Ranbir Singh learns to stand on his own feet.’’

Dungarpur, a member of the panel that picked Wright, feels the next coach should be someone who can make the Indian players mentally tougher, and he says Whatmore’s Asian experience and good record holds him in good stead for the post.

Hanumant Singh, another member of the last panel, says it’s important India goes for a foreigner instead of an Indian. ‘‘You need people of stature. Nowadays the boys listen to a foreigner. They probably have some complex. These people talk a professional language which is impressive and gets the desired effect,” he says.

Another important factor to be considered is the captain-coach equation. ‘‘Had Dravid been the captain during Wright’s stint, things would have worked much better. There would have been a better understanding because a combination has a lot to do with success’’, he says.

How chappell failed to get the job last time

Why did Greg Chappell not get the job in 2000? Says Raj Singh Dungarpur: ‘‘Chappell spoke from a high pedestal and was more keen on money than on his job. At the end of every second sentence, he would demand money. The last straw was when he told AC Muthiah (then Board president) to transfer $100,000 in his account before he traveled to India to take over.’’

Dungarpur said they wanted someone who was here with passion for cricket rather than for money. ‘‘Greg was just here to make money’’, he says.