'If there is a position and an opportunity there, I will be very interested'

Whatmore keen to coach India

Cricinfo staff

April 4, 2007

Dav Whatmore: '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' © Getty Images

Dav Whatmore, Bangladesh's coach, has expressed interest in coaching India. "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 said in an interview with the television channel CNN-IBN. "If there is a position and an opportunity there, I will be very interested."

Whatmore, an Australian, has done wonders with subcontinental teams. He was at the helm when Sri Lanka won the World Cup in 1996 and has coached Bangladesh to some impressive wins against big opponents.

Greg Chappell's decision not to renew his contract in the wake of India's early exit from the World Cup prompted worries that no foreign coach might be interested in the job. But Whatmore is prepared to pick up the gauntlet. "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. Perhaps there are more distractions there. The sheer weight of interest of the media be it electronic or print the huge popularity with the individuals, they all are distraction to a point," he said.

Apart from Whatmore, there are atleast six names doing the rounds as the likely replacement for Chappell: Tom Moody, Sunil Gavaskar, Mohinder Amarnath, Sandeep Patil, Viv Richards and John Wright.

The Indian board's working committee meets on April 7, following the meeting of the review committee the day before. The working committee meeting will be attended by BCCI's office-bearers and seven former captains, including Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri and S Venkatraghavan.

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