COLOMBO, Aug 20 (AFP): India's cricket chiefs Sunday dismissed suggestions in the Australian media that national coach Greg Chappell's contract will not be renewed after next year's World Cup. The Herald Sun newspaper claimed Chappell, a former Australian captain, was a contender to take over as Australia's coach when John Buchanan steps down after the World Cup in the Caribbean in April. "Chappell's contract with India expires at the end of the World Cup and it's understood it will not be renewed by mutual arrangement with the Indian board," the newspaper claimed. However, Indian cricket board secretary Niranjan Shah dismissed the report, saying no such arrangement had been made. "Rubbish, there has not been any such decision," Shah told AFP by phone from Mumbai. "Chappell's two-year contract is till next May. Any decision on him will not be made before the World Cup." Chappell, currently in Sri Lanka with the Indian team for a one-day series, also denied he had been approached by Australia. The Herald Sun quoted Australian chief selector Allan Border as saying that Chappell, along with current Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody and Tim Nielsen, head coach of Australia's cricket academy in Queensland, were the favourites to replace Buchanan.
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