Engineer Brahmachari seeking cricket coaching job says it's a protest

Anil Kumble

Burdwan (West Bengal): Mechanical engineer Upendra Nath Brahmachari, whose application to coach the Indian cricket team has created a buzz, says his action is a protest against the treatment meted out to former coach Anil Kumble.

A self-proclaimed fan of the "golden generation" of Indian cricket, Brahmachari, who hails from Burdwan in West Bengal and works in Nashik in Maharashtra, filed his application on the website of the Board of Control for Cricket In India (BCCI).

"My application is a protest against the way Kumble was treated. You don't deal with legends like this. I have always been a rebel," Brahmachari told IANS after his application became viral on social media.

Kumble resigned as coach of the Indian cricket team following differences with the captain, Virat Kohli.

"I wrote in my letter that since I am a nobody and don't have any cricketing background, I can take Virat Kohli's attitude," the 30-year-old said.

"I am a big fan of the golden generation. Sourav Ganguly. Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Anil Kumble are my childhood heroes. How can I see someone playing cricket for five years insult my icons?" he asked.

"I did what I had to. I don't like the attention I am getting now," he said.

In his application to the BCCI, Brahmachari has said that his non-cricketing background will help him gel well with Kohli.

"Why I should be appointed as the head coach? Because I can adjust with the arrogant attitude of the captain and no legend can do so. Slowly I will drag him on to the right track and then the BCCI can appoint a legend as the head coach," he wrote in his application.

The others who have applied for the post of coach are Virender Sehwag, Craig McDermott, Richard Pybus, Lalchand Rajput, Tom Moody and, according to some reports, Ravi Shastri.