Whatmore interested in India

Less than a day after Greg Chappell announced he will not be seeking a renewal of his tenure as coach of the Indian cricket team, two names have already emerged as possibilities to take his place; current Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore and former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar.

“If the opportunity comes along, surely any person who is a professional coach and prides himself in doing a good job would be interested in coaching the Indian team,” Whatmore, who coached Sri Lanka to World Cup triumph in 1996, told CNN.

“Firstly, any job is a challenge. I have taken up pretty good challenges in the last 10 years, and this will be another big challenge.

“There is huge passion for the game in India. It is a big religion there, and there is enormous pressure on the team.

“To get the best out of players is a challenge, and to work with the selectors who have the best interest of the game in their heart represent challenge, which is very interesting.”

Former Indian captain Kapil Dev has signified his preference for the next coach of India, in an interview today; the controversial Sunil Gavaskar.

“Sunil is the best person. When I played, I used to take his advice a lot of times,” he said.

“I personally feel people like him should come forward and say, ‘OK, now, this is the time, we will take responsibility, we can’t grow worse than this’.”