Virender Sehwag is among the most Twitter-savvy cricketers of the current generation. The swashbuckling former India opener has had Twitterati in splits with his banters and at the same time has received flak for his controversial posts on the social media platform.
Be it calling the Blind WorldT20-winning Indian team the "other Men in Blue" or his comments on global warming, the Delhi dasher has attracted the ire of quite of few. Sehwag was also in trouble when he took a dig at 20-year-old New Delhi student Gurmehar Kaur, who stressed on the ill-effects of war earlier this year.
All those banters and his well-known carefree attitude might now work against him as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) prepares itself to consider their options for India coach role. Notably, Sehwag had applied for the high-profile position and is among the frontrunners along with former Team India director Ravi Shastri.
BCCI is fearing if Sehwag operates in a carefree attitude during tough times, it might dampen the mood in the dressing room and affect the morale of "important people", according to sources, as reported by Deccan Chronicle. The source also added there is no clear favourite for the job as a few more applications are expected before the July 9 deadline.
"Yes, Viru [Sehwag] is outspoken on social media. But then, if he is appointed, he would be instructed to keep his mouth shut. Our fear is that he would just say, 'so what?', if India loses a match or a series. That would surely ruffle the feathers of important people," the source said, as quoted by the report.
It added: "Currently, no other candidate is the front runner but one never knows. We still have a few days more to receive the applications."
Sehwag, it was reported, was asked to send a resume by the BCCI after the rift between former coach Anil Kumble and skipper Virat Kohli came to light ahead of India's Champions Trophy campaign. While the Kings XI Punjab head coach has the backing of BCCI treasurer Amitabh Choudhury, Kohli has shown desire to have Shastri back in the dressing room.
Apart from Shastri and Sehwag, Tom Moody, Richard Pybus, Dodda Ganesh and Lalchand Rajput have also applied for the coaching job. Notably, the former applied after BCCI invited applications following Kumble's resignation earlier this month.
It was reported yesterday that former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad had also applied for the role, but the bowler himself rubbished the rumours. The 47-year-old though maintained that he would want to contribute to Indian cricket by working under either Shastri or Sehwag.
