'Gavaskar recommended Emburey's name'

Former England spinner John Emburey was "recommended" to the Indian coaching job by Sunil Gavaskar - a staunch campaigner against appointing a foreigner to the post - Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty said today.

"Emburey's name was recommended by Gavaskar," Shetty told PTI.

"Both Graham Ford and John Emburey have confirmed that they would attend the meeting on June 9," he added.

Gavaskar, one of the three former captains in the BCCI special committee appointed to find India's next coach, had strongly argued for an Indian to be given the job.

He had earlier criticised Bangladesh's decision to field in the second Test against India in Dhaka last month, when Dav Whatmore was their coach.

Whatmore was the frontrunner for the post until yesterday when the committee decided to invite Emburey and Ford for discussion in Chennai on June 9.

South African Ford seems to have the advantage at the moment as he reportedly is the players' favourite.

Asked about the speculation that either former England coach Duncan Fletcher or Sri Lanka's 1996 World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga was the second person in contention, Shetty said, "I don't think Fletcher's name ever came up."