/ Editor / 04 June 2007 /

India's cricket board is hoping to appoint a new coach imminently so the team can step up their preparations for July's Test series with England.

Australian Dav Whatmore appears to be the leading contender to secure the job, with the selection set to be made by a seven-strong selection panel comprising former cricketers and officials.

There are several other high profile contenders including former South African and current Kent coach Graham Ford and former Indian batting star Gundappa Viswanath, while former England chief Duncan Fletcher is being touted as an outside possibility.

Whatmore quit as Bangladesh coach in late May, and should he land the job, everyone connected with Indian cricket will hope he can repeat the feat he achieved with Sri Lanka in the 1990s.

There is certainly plenty of work to be done with the side that turned in such a poor showing in the recent World Cup, although the recent 3-0 win in the four-Test series with Bangladesh will have lifted spirits.

Former Test all-rounder Ravi Shastri was in charge for that tour and many former India Test players and cricket pundits have been calling for a home-grown coach to be appointed after recent spells under Australian Chappell and New Zealander John Wright.

The current bowling and fielding coaches Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh have both played for the cricket-passionate nation and either one of them, or a joint-leadership role would be a popular choice in many quarters.

The fact they know the current players in the squad and the behind-the-scenes set up would certainly be a bonus given the time they have to get the players ready for the one-day international series that start later this month before July's Test-match series with England, which gets underway at Lord's on July 19.

India are the current outsiders at 3.7 to win that series, with England (1.87) and the draw available at 3.7 in a developing market.

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