The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Friday said India will have a new coach within a month. One candidate who certainly appears in the race is Leicestershire coach Tim Boon.
There are reports that the 45-year-old is among those shortlisted for the India coach's job and could well make a trip to India to meet with BCCI officials.
Boon, however, refused to confirm whether he has applied. He just said if the terms are right then he could take up the job. Maybe, after the Graham Ford saga, he is treading carefully.
"I don't want to make any comments on it or whether I have applied for it. What I just want to say is that I am very passionate about what I do and very confident in an environment. It doesn't matter whether it is an international environment or whether it's these guys; to me it is all the same for me," he told rediff.com in Leicester on Friday.
Boon had a successful playing career, predominantly with Leicestershire, where he played for nearly 15 years between 1980 and 1995, scoring more than 11,000 first-class runs. He had a spell with Natal in South Africa and later played for Norfolk.
Recently, his profile as coach has grown. He was the England under-19 coach in 1999 after which he took over as the English team's video analyst and was part of the 2005 Ashes-winning team management.
He then took as Leicestershire's head coach in 2006, from James Whitaker.
Boon says right now his focus is the job at Leicestershire.
"I am not somebody who will sit on a hill top and shout out about Tim Boon. My job is where I am at the moment and that is making Leicestershire as good as they can be. And it is creating an environment here that is good and that can help people move from county cricket to international cricket," he said.
But he did make it clear that it would be dream come true for any coach to take the Indian job.
"But, obviously, an international job is something coaches aspire to at some stage. England, Australia and India are the top three positions in the world. To me, the international arena is about fine-tuning a bit more. I have been there as an assistant coach and in actual fact you go back to basics," he said.
He was quick to add that he has not yet spoken to India captain Rahul Dravid, but "I hope to catch up with him in the next couple of days."
Boon said if the terms are right he will have no problems about taking over at the Indian team.
"If the factors there are right for me, then I would surely consider it," he said.
And if he does take over, he says he will have no problems dealing with the team's superstars. His secret to handling top players is communication, something, he says, is also vital for the success of any team.
"It means nothing to me. To me it is about people, about how you interact and moving forward in life. It is about moving forward in life and helping people to be better than they can be, so I don't think that is a big problem," he said.
"I don't see them as superstars I see them as anybody plying their trade. They do the simple things better than other people. They practice harder, their preparation is good, their thought process is okay. To me, finding out what works for them; to me, that is communication," he added.
Leicestershire captain Paul Nixon says Boon will be a good choice as Team India coach.
"The qualities that Tim possesses are that he is a big team player. He wants to always play for the team, but what is important is his attention to detail with people's technique, whether it is batting, bowling or keeping. He has been around for a long time now.
"I met Tim in the late 1980's when I joined Leicestershire nearly four decades ago. Tim is a good man, he was a good player, a very good opening batsman, technically very correct. He learnt his trade with England [as assistant coach] and he is now a Level 4 coach, as good as it can get. But he has experience of around 20-25 years in county cricket, where you play on different kind of surfaces against all opposition. He has a lot to give and he cares about game and cares for people.
Will he be able to handle superstars?
"Again they are people and they care about each other's game. The press and the media make them superstars. The guys who do their job well under pressure become superstars and to do your job well under pressure you need to have a good, basic technique. You got to know your game and practice under pressure and that is what Tim is good here at Leicestershire," said Nixon.
Former West Indies captain Jimmy Adams, who is among the support staff at Leicestershire, also echoed similar sentiments.
"He has international experience, he was with the England for two years and he was part of that whole Ashes-winning management team in 2005. He is here at Leicestershire as the number one man at first class level. I have no doubt that India could do a good job in any country of the world. He has a history of working in different cultures like South Africa, England and Australia. So, as you can see here at Leicestershire, he has gone a long way in breaking the cultural barriers for the Asians at Leicester.
"I have no doubt that Tim would be added level, not only in India, but anywhere he goes."
