Gary Kirsten to reply on Monday

MUMBAI: The top officials of the Board of Control for Control for Cricket in India will be meeting in Kolkata on Saturday but it is unlikely that they will be able to take a final decision on Gary Kirsten, the man they are eying to hire as India’s next coach. Since appearing for an interview on Monday, the South African has not communicated to the  BCCI. He is still mulling over the proposal.

Kirsten, it seems, is in no hurry to get back to the BCCI. He wants to utilise the full one week time that has been given to him to study the Indian offer. “Well I’ve not yet taken any decision. I’m obliged to answer to the BCCI on Monday and I could be talking to them that day. If not surely on Tuesday,” Kirsten, who has been out of bounds for the media for some time, told DNA from Cape Town. He would not elaborate further. When pressed if the answer would be more positive, he said: “At this stage, you can say I’m more positive than negative about the offer.” He, however, admitted that he was studying the contract details.

With nothing to decide on the Kirsten front, the BCCI’s meeting in Kolkata could take a decision on the fate of Lalchand Rajput, who has been India’s interim cricket manager since the Twenty20 World Cup in September. The focus of the meeting will also be on the Indian Premiere League and of course, the Indian Cricket League, which kicked off in Chandigarh on Friday. BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah, meanwhile, confirmed that the selection committee will meet in Bangalore on December 5.