The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) hasreceived over 2000 applications for the post of the Team India head coach, aposition which is currently held by Ravi Shastri.

However, if Bangalore Mirror is to be believed, then amongthe 2000 applications for the post, there is a real dearth of competentchallengers for Shastri.Among big-name foreign coaches, the vastly experiencedTom Moody and Kings XI Punjab coach Mike Hesson sent in their applicationswhile Robin Singh and Lalchand Rajput are the ones from India, who could belooked at.

The report also says that Mahela Jayawardene, who hadearlier expressed his interest in the role, has not yet sent in his applicationwhile some international applicants sent their CVs through agents and the BCCImay take time to contemplate.Former South Africa player Jonty Rhodes also appliedfor the role of the fielding coach, which will be up for grabs after India'stour of West Indies, where the Men in Blue will play 3 ODIs and T20Is each andtwo Tests.

Earlier, the newly formed Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC)co-member Anshuman Gaekwad said that they will go with an open mind andanybody's opinion won't be the reason behind their choice.

"The captain can say anything. It doesn't bother us. Weare a committee. That's his opinion and the BCCI takes a note of it, notus," Anshuman Gaekwad told the IANS when asked about Kohli's opinion.

"It all depends on BCCI. BCCI has to give us guidelinesand then we will go accordingly. He has already said yesterday (what he wants).When we chose the women's coach, we did not contact anybody. We did it on ourown," he added."The CAC hasn't contacted me yet. If they want myopinion, I'll go and speak to them. With Ravi Bhai, we share a greatcamaraderie, and will definitely be very happy if he continues. But I haven'tbeen contacted," Kohli had said before India left to the US for their tourof Windies.