May 21, 2007	Monday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 04, 1428

MUMBAI, May 20: The officials of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) finally admitted that they discussed with Dav Whatmore his interest in coaching the Indian team.

Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, said he was ‘satisfied’ with his ‘brief meeting’ with Whatmore in Bangladesh and would report his feedback to the seven-member committee appointed to find a new coach for the team.

“I met with him yesterday. I will report the details to the committee,” Shah, who returned from Bangladesh on Sunday morning, told PTI. “I am satisfied with the meeting. It was a brief meeting, it lasted for five-ten minutes. Whatmore expressed his desire to coach India.”

However, a senior board official said that too much shouldn't be read into the meeting. “The board hasn't short-listed anybody. Whatmore met with Shah to express his interest but the decision on the next Indian coach will be taken only a week or two before the India team leaves for Ireland on June 20.”

Shah, along with Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty and vice-president Rajeev Shukla were in Chittagong on Saturday on an invitation from the Bangladesh board.

Both Shah and Pawar denied during their press briefing that the purpose of their visit was to have a discussion with Whatmore, who has emerged as a major contender for the post vacated by Greg Chappell.

Asked about the turn of events, Shah said, “Whatmore wanted to meet me. I couldn't say no.”

Shah had earlier said that the seven-member committee would meet in Bangalore on June 4 and the new coach would be named four to five days later.—Agencies