mumbai, india (reuters)

Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore threw his hat in the ring yesterday to succeed Greg Chappell as India coach.

On the day Chappell handed in his resignation, two weeks after the team's first-round exit in the World Cup, Whatmore confirmed his interest in taking over the reins in India from his Australian compatriot.

"If the opportunity comes along, surely any person who is a professional coach and prides himself in doing a good job would be interested in coaching the Indian team," Whatmore told CNN-IBN news channel.

Whatmore coached Sri Lanka to World Cup success in 1996 and has worked wonders with the Bangladesh team, who effectively condemned India to an early exit from the World Cup with a surprise victory in the group phase of the competition.

The 53-year-old said he was willing to take up the challenge of coaching India.

"Firstly, any job is a challenge. I have taken up pretty good challenges in the last 10 years and this will be another big challenge," he said.

"To get the best out of players is a challenge and to work with the selectors who have the best interest of the game in their heart represent challenge, which is very interesting.

"Perhaps there are more distractions there. The sheer weight of interest of the media, be it electronic or print, the huge popularity with the individuals, they all are distraction to a point."

The Indian board meets over two days starting Friday to delve into the World Cup debacle and discuss the subject of the next coach.