Ravi Shastri gets his team but without Dravid and Zaheer

0
862

Ignoring the CAC selection of Rahul Dravid and Zaheer Khan as consultants for overseas matches, Ravi Shastri, the newly appointed head coach of the India cricket team had his men in the team when BCCI announced Bharat Arun as bowling coach. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary, in a media conference on Tuesday, declared the appointment of Bharat Arun as bowling coach and also promotion of Sanjay Bangar as assistant coach. The BCCI also retained R. Sridhar as the fielding coach and all the appointments are till the 2019 ICC World Cup. Shastri wanted his core team in place and after the announcement he said that he always had this core team in his mind and what the BCCI announced is his core team. Before the media conference Shastri met the newly formed four member BCCI committee which decides the coaches. The committee comprises of acting President C.K. Khanna, acting Secretary Amitabh Choudhary, Committee of Administrators (CoA) member Diana Edulji and board CEO Rahul Johri. The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman had earlier announced Rahul Dravid and Zaheer Khan as overseas batting and bowling consultants respectively and after the remarks of Shastri on Tuesday it not clear what their roles would be. Shastri went on record saying that he has talked both Rahul Dravid and Zaheer Khan. Ravi Shastri said that “all depends on the availability of both. It depends on individuals and the number of days they want to give to the team. Both their inputs will be valuable and they are most welcome”. Amitabh Choudhary, replying to questions dismissed the view that the CAC’s announcement on Dravid and Zaheer was a debacle. He also mentioned that Shastri want them in the core team and that Dravid and Zaheer will be on board because their contributions are going to be valuable. Bharat Arun was earlier the Indian bowling coach during Shastri’s previous tenure as Team Director. Shastri expressed his gratitude to the CAC for picking him for the prestigious job.

Advertisement