BCCI secretary Jay Shah on Friday rejected claims that the Board has approached any former Australian cricketer to take over the job of India‘s head coach, a position which will be left vacant by the exit of Rahul Dravid after the T20 World Cup next month.

While Dravid has reportedly told the board that he is not interested in a third stint, former Australian players like Ricky Ponting and Justin Langer have claimed that they have turned down approaches for the high-profile position.

“Neither I nor the BCCI have approached any former Australian cricketer with a coaching offer. The reports circulating in certain media sections are completely incorrect,” Shah said in a statement.

Both Ponting and Langer are involved in the Indian Premier League as the head coaches of Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants respectively.

“Finding the right coach for our national team is a meticulous and thorough process. We are focused on identifying individuals who possess a deep understanding of the Indian cricket structure and have risen through the ranks,” Shah said, dropping hints that Dravid’s successor could well be an Indian.

The BCCI secretary also said that having in-depth knowledge of Indian domestic cricket will be one of the important criteria for appointing the next coach.

He said the understanding would be crucial to “truly elevate Team India to the next level.”

Former batter Gautam Gambhir, who is mentoring Kolkata Knight Riders right now, is speculated to be among the top contenders for the post.

Shah’s comments came a day after Ponting told the ICC that he had turned down BCCI’s offer to become India’s new head coach. According to the two-time ODI World Cup-winning team captain, he was recently approached, but the role doesn’t fit his lifestyle.

“I’ve seen a lot of reports about it,” Ponting told the ICC. “Normally these things pop up on social media before you even know about them, but there were a few little one-on-one conversations during the IPL, just to get a level of interest from me as to whether I would do it.

“I’d love to be a senior coach of a national team, but with the other things that I have in my life and wanting to have a bit of time at home, everyone knows that if you take a job working with the Indian team, you can’t be involved in an IPL team, so it would take that out of it as well.

“Also, a national head coach is a 10 or 11-month of the year job, and as much as I’d like to do it, it just doesn’t fit into my lifestyle right now and the things that I really enjoy doing.”