BCCI receives 57 applications for head coach position

Board of Control for Cricket in India posted the advert for the job earlier this month

NEW DELHI: India's cricket board has received 57 applications for the position of head cricket coach, with speculation rife about the possible candidates including Australia's Stuart Law and Dav Whatmore.

The board has kept the list of applicants tightly under wraps, but former team director Ravi Shastri, current chief selector Sandeep Patil and ex-fast bowler Venkatesh Prasad are among those to have publicly expressed interest.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) posted the advert for the job earlier this month after Shastri's contract ended after the World Twenty20 in April.

The BCCI said on Sunday that the list of 57 will now be scrutinised, with a final decision expected to be made before India tour the West Indies in July.

"After this initial scrutiny, the list of candidates who meet the criteria will be processed for further consideration," the BCCI said in a statement.

Law, a former coach of Bangladesh, and  Whatmore, who was sacked by Zimbabwe this month, are among the foreigners suggested in Indian media as possible contenders.

Limited-overs skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said last week that whoever wins the role needed to have an understanding of the country's "culture".

"More than Hindi, English, one who understands our culture and our upbringing, the one who understands these sorts of things, he will always be better with us," said Dhoni.

"In the past, too, these things have been important, and the coaches who have understood us better, it has made a difference at the ground level."