Whatmore given permission to leave as NCA Director

The former Australian batsman, who took charge as the Director of Operations exactly two years back, has been ‘given permission to leave’ his current assignment by the parent body, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

It is widely believed that the man who coached Sri Lanka to the 1996 World Cup and the Indians to their under-19 World Cup triumph in Kuala Lumpur last year will link up with Indian Premier League side Kolkata Knight Riders, who have been looking for a coach since parting ways with another Australian, John Buchanan after their disastrous run in IPL II in South Africa.

The 55-year-old Colombo-born Whatmore had taken great delight in the fact that during his term, with former Indian skipper Ravi Shastri at the helm as its chairman, the NCA had become a ‘destination’ for the top Indian cricketers, not just for injury rehabilitation but also to partake of the facilities at the academy as well as feed off the expertise of the coaching and support staff.

Only recently, Whatmore had been at the forefront of the launch of a path-breaking coaching manual, the first of its kind in the country.

The Shastri-Whatmore combine had succeeded in raising the profile of the premier feeder system in the country which has been active almost throughout the year, and which had realistic, goal-oriented plans chalked out for the future.