Former Zimbabwe cricketer and current RCB coach Andy Flower has said that he hasn’t applied for the Team India head coach job and will not be doing so.
This announcement comes in the wake of the BCCI opening applications for the national team head coach role earlier this month, with the tenure set to begin on July 1, 2024, and run until December 31, 2027.
"I have not applied and I would not be applying for the job. I am happy with my involvement in the franchise league at the moment. I am really enjoying it. It is fascinating stuff and I have worked with some amazing organizations and I am happy with that at the moment,” Flower said in a post-match presentation.
Flower also addressed queries about wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik's future, amid speculation that this IPL season could play his last.
Before the IPL 2024 season, ESPNCricinfo claimed that Karthik wanted to retire after this season, which was reinforced by his emotional post-match hug with Virat Kohli and a lap of honor by RCB players.
Karthik, who is the 10th-highest run-getter in IPL history with 4,842 runs at an average of 26.31 and a strike rate of 135.42 across 257 matches, has not officially announced his retirement. Notably, he won an IPL title with Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2013.
For RCB, Karthik has been a valuable player, accumulating 937 runs in 60 matches at an average of 24.65 and a strike rate of 162.95, including three half-centuries. In the IPL 2024, Karthik scored 326 runs in 13 innings at an average of 36.22 and a strike rate of 187.35, with two half-centuries, and a top score of 83.
"He had not played a lot of cricket leading into the tournament. What he has done for us -- runs-wise, attitude-wise -- has been really special. I respect him for that. He is going to be super successful in whatever he goes on to.
He is a brilliant commentator already. He quite likes the idea of coaching as well -- helping and working with other people, which I am not surprised about. He will be a great success when he does that as well. I also think he might play a few more little tournaments along the way,” Flower said.
(ANI inputs)
