Gary Kirsten was the coach of the Indian men’s team when they lifted the 50-over World Cup in 2011, now along with former Indian opener WV Raman has been shortlisted for the post of the women’s team coach. The BCCI’s ad-hoc committee comprising former captain Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad, and Shantha Rangaswamy recommended the shortlisted names to the BCCI.

However, a cloud of uncertainty remains over Kirsten’s appointment as the South African is not keen on giving up his plum job with Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). According to the reports of PTI, efforts are being made to convince him.

The other shortlisted candidates out of the 28 applicants who were interviewed are Venkatesh Prasad, Manoj Prabhakar, Trent Johnston, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Brad Hogg and Kalpana Venkatachar. Some of the reports have suggested that three were interviewed in person, five candidates, including Kirsten, on Skype and one over phone.

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Kirsten had been head coach of the Indian team for three years from 2008 to 2011. He then coached South Africa from 2011 to 2013. He is currently the head coach of the RCB in the IPL. The BCCI has been looking for a new head coach for the women’s team after Ramesh Powar‘s small stint as interim coach ended last month, in rather controversial circumstances. Powar too appeared for the interview.

The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (COA), comprising chairman Vinod Rai and former Indian skipper Diana Edulji, have been divided over the coach selection process. While Edulji was consistently forcing to have Powar back, Rai instructed the BCCI top brass to invite fresh applications.

Powar’s controversial stint ended on November 30 after a tussle with the ODI skipper Mithali Raj over selection issues. The board is now going ahead with the interview process.