Allan Donald, next Indian bowling coach?

New Delhi:

Legendary South African bowler Allan Donald might well become the next Indian bowling coach, according to media reports.

Though the Indian Cricket Board was yet to give him a formal offer, a board official had informally approached the former pacer during the Champions League T20 tournament held in last October.

While he was told the process could take longer than expected for the Board to take a final decision, things might settle down before South Africa's tour of India in February.

"Yes, I had an informal chat during Champions League Twenty20 with an Indian board official," Donald a website.

"I would be interested to talk to the BCCI regarding the bowling coach job that is currently vacant and I'm keen," he added.

Donald, who has 330 wickets in Tests and 272 in ODIs, had a stint as a bowling coach with England in 2007. He then spent a year with Warwickshire as the head coach.

It was during his stay with Warwickshire that he came in contact with Indian pacer S Sreesanth, who was there for a two-month stint. Though impressed with his talent, Donald had asked Sreesanth to be disciplined if he wanted to make an India comeback.

Fellow South African Shaun Pollock is also being tipped as a possible candidate, having coached the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League where the former Protea captain worked with Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh. Pollock, however, refused to comment on it.

India have been without bowling and fielding coaches since October as the BCCI had sacked Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh following team's dismal performance in the ICC World T20 and Champions Trophy.

Indian captain MS Dhoni, before leaving for the Bangladesh tour, admitted the team was missing bowling and fielding coaches and that Gary Kirsten was overburdened.

"He has to look after everything: he has to sit and talk to the batsmen, bowlers, fielders, build strategies and look after team building," Dhoni had said.

"It does help to have specialist bowling and fielding coaches for the bowlers and fielders. But that's the way it and it's now an administrative issue," he added.