The carefully worded statement issued by AC Muthiah on Sunday, far from clearing the picture on the position of coach Kapil Dev, has caused more confusion. The president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India has caused some bewilderment, first by his oscillating stance and second by the use of the word `might' instead of `will' when saying that ``Mr Kapil Dev, the senior cricket team coach, might be invited to Chennai to train the probables.''

The statement was issued on September 10 and the camp is scheduled to commence at Chennai on September 14. Not much time really for someone else to take up the reins, even on an adhoc basis. So if the status quo is to be maintained, then why not make it crystal clear that Kapil Dev will remain the coach - at least for the Chennai camp?

It may be recalled that the BCCI working committee on August 18 had authorised Muthiah to talk to Kapil Dev and take any decision on the continuance of the coach or whether he should be replaced. Muthiah met Kapil Dev at New Delhi on August 24. During the course of the meeting, Kapil Dev showed an interest in continuing in the post but Muthiah remained non commital.

Since then of course there have been a lot of developments. In the first place, Muthiah was chargesheeted in the SPIC disinvestment case in Chennai. Then Kapil Dev was questioned by the CBI last week and he emerged from the meeting ``happy and relieved.'' Muthiah in the meantime told the Gulf News in Sharjah where he was attending the Asian Cricket Foundation meeting, ``I will be having one more sitting with Kapil Dev and then announce my decision.'' He however queered the pitch by saying that the board was on the look out for a foreign coach.

Even while a decision on Kapil Dev was awaited any time now - after all the camp commences in a few days time and you can't have a camp without a coach - came Muthiah's Sunday statement. In it he reiterated that ``the BCCI's stand that it will not take any action on players or administrators unless they are proved guilty would remain.'' For good measure he added that ``the board had never received any direction from the Union Sports Ministry nor has the board given any direction to the selection committee. The three players Md Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja and Nikhil Chopra were rested purely on their lack of merit.''

Going by the merit clause, Kapil Dev should be removed immediately. For his record as coach has been close to abysmal. The only item on the credit side is a victory over New Zealand. The debit side shows Test defeats to Australia and South Africa and a disappointing record in one day matches. Kapil Dev might have been an inspiring figure as player and even as captain but he certainly does not send the right signals across to the players as a coach.

Kapil Dev also does not merit retention if one goes by the arguments made out by chairman of selection committee Chandu Borde and BCCI secretary JY Lele that ``in the present circumstances, they would not be able to perform up to potential.'' This remark was made to explain the non selection of Azharuddin, Jadeja and Chopra in the list of probables for the ICC knock-out tournament in Nairobi. By the same yardstick, a coach who has had match fixing allegations hurled freely against him and who has had his premises raided by IT officials cannot be in the best frame of mind for continuing in what is undoubtedly a tough assignment.

>From all accounts, board members are divided on the issue of both Kapil's retention and the appointment of a foreign coach. Muthiah has also not exactly endeared himself to members by his vacillation on the matter. At the same time, his comment on the board being on the look out for a foreign coach has also not gone down well. Some board members have expressed their view that Muthiah should not have made this view public before the appointment is finalised at the BCCI AGM at Chennai on September 29 and 30.

Muthiah himself is not on firm ground at the end of his first year in the post and that could be one reason why he has decided to play it safe. The chargesheet, the wavering on the Kapil Dev issue and the remarks on the foreign coach have all made his position increasingly vulnerable. Despite being authorised by the board to take a decision on the matter, Muthiah has dilly dallied and this is an indication of the various pulls and pressures on the board president.

On his part, Kapil Dev in the course of his controversial interview last month said he would have nothing to do with the game once his term as coach as over. His two year term ends only in September next year so one can hardly expect him to resign on his own before that even if, as reports have it, he is not too keen on keeping the job. If anything, the onus is on the board to remove him if they wish to appoint anyone else. From the latest development on Sunday, it is more or less clear that Kapil Dev will keep the job at least for the duration of the Chennai camp or till the Board's AGM. After all, the board would look pretty sheepish if they remove him and he is given a clean chit from the CBI, whose interim report is expected to be out at the time of the Board meeting. On the other hand, Kapil Dev himself may walk out of the job if he is absolved of the match fixing allegations. All in all, it is an intriguing situation and the elaborate strategies chalked out by the involved parties over the next few days to score a few points could even teach chess grandmasters a few lessons.

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