Greg Chappell

Melbourne/Mumbai: Greg Chappell is in contention for taking over as Australian coach after next year’s World Cup, according to Australian media reports which surprised cricket administrators in India.

Chappell’s contract with the BCCI is till the 2007 World Cup. Whether he will be offered an extension will be decided later.

That Chappell is a candidate to take over from John Buchanan was confirmed by Cricket Australia (CA) director and former captain Allan Border.

“John (Buchanan) has decided that after the World Cup he is going to be moving on. Therefore we need an Australian coach. It’s a tough job,” Border said.

“Tom Moody, Tim Nielsen, Greg Chappell are in the mix... Dav Whatmore is now coaching Bangladesh and was a long-term coach at Sri Lanka as well. We’ve got a lot of good candidates for a tough job,” he was quoted as saying by a daily on Saturday.

The report also said that Chappell’s contract “will not be renewed by mutual agreement with the Indian board”.

The BCCI, however, dismissed the report.

“That is incorrect. There has been no such mutual agreement. We will decide over the issue (whether to continue with Chappell as coach) after the World Cup. He’s been contracted to be the Indian coach till the end of the tournament,” BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said.

Chappell, currently in Sri Lanka with the Indian squad, has said he had neither been approached by CA for the job nor has he been told by the BCCI that his contract won’t be extended (after the World Cup).

“I haven’t really followed the story. If Border did say that, I assume they might be in the process of identifying candidates to succeed Buchanan,” Chappell was quoted as saying by a website. “If the media want to pick up a quote and run with it, that’s their prerogative.”

A CA sub-committee, which includes Border and Mark Taylor, will discuss the issue. Ricky Ponting will also have a crucial vote in the selection of the next coach.

Buchanan is leaving no stones unturned to end his innings on a positive note during the forthcoming Ashes series Down Under.