Pawar’s choice Borde is team coach, for now

MUMBAI: Applying the brakes on its search for a foreign coach, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) appointed 72-year-old Chandu Borde as team manager. The decision was taken at its working committee meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday.

BCCI president Sharad Pawar himself took the final call on the choice of Borde — the former India captain who later served as chief  selector from 1999 to 2002 — for India’s tour of Ireland and England.

The committee also decided to restore the 26 per cent share of the BCCI’s gross revenue that players used to receive annually. The disbursement was scrapped after the World Cup.  

The revenue-share element of the players’ package will not affect the emoluments they earn as part of the gradation system. The board has told the players that it would accept their demands but has warned that fresh contracts will have to be signed before October 1.  

During Tuesday’s deliberations, the manager’s post was once again offered to Ravi Shastri, who had held that position when India toured Bangladesh recently. But the former captain declined the offer citing media commitments.

Shastri, along with another former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, were special invitees at the meeting. Even as the debate continued over the appointment of the next cricket manager, Hyderabad Cricket Association’s Shivlal Yadav reeled out a series of suggestions.

He proposed Ansuman Gaekwad, G R Viswanath, and Mohinder Amarnath be considered for the post. But once Pawar put up Borde’s name, the working committee unanimously endorsed the choice.

Borde’s appointment signals the BCCI’s decision to halt its search for a new coach, at least temporarily. The BCCI has, however, retained the same seven-member search committee that had interviewed Graham Ford and John Emburey to find a new coach. India returns from England in September.