The Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) in India has finally chosen former captain Ravi Shastri as the head coach of the Indian cricket team till the 2019 ICC World Cup ending the speculations surrounding the much coveted position.
Zaheer Khan, the second-most successful Indian pace bowler in Test cricket has been appointed as bowling coach, and Rahul Dravid the coach of India A and U-19 sides, has been appointed as the batting consultant for overseas Test matches for the Indian cricket team.(indianexpress.com)
The decision was taken late on Tuesday night after the cricket board's Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman had a conference call with team captain Virat Kohli. (sports.ndtv.com)
Shastri's first assignment will be a full-fledged tour of Sri Lanka featuring three Tests, five ODIs and a one-off T20 International starting July 26.
The BCCI's Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman interviewed six candidates on Monday - Virender Sehwag, Tom Moody, Richard Pybus, Phil Simmons, Lalchand Rajput and Shastri - before finalising on the latter.
It has been learnt that it was a tough fight between Shastri and Sehwag but it was skipper Kohli's strong recommendation about Shastri's successful earlier tenure that swung the deal in the former's favour. (sports.ndtv.com)
After the last held ICC Champions Trophy, a rift was reported between Anil Kumble and Virat Kohli with the latter not being happy with the legendary leggie's style of coaching. The Indian players were also said to be unhappy with Kumble's 'hard taskmaster' approach. (zeenews.india.com)
Kumble said he was told by the Indian board that Kohli was not satisfied with his 'style of coaching'. (msn.com)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdNJwKpIXsQ
Shastri vs Ganguly
Sourav Ganguly, who was reportedly instrumental in crushing Ravi Shastri's ambitions of becoming head coach of Team India last year, ended up playing a role in making the former Mumbai and India all-rounder Anil Kumble's successor this time around. (mid-day.com)
Last year after Kumble took over as Indian cricket team's head coach, S
According to sources, former captain Ganguly had reservations about Shastri's appointment but was finally convinced by Tendulkar, who wanted the team's wish to be respected. It was learnt that
Shastri had been the Cricket Manager for the Indian team during the 2007 tour of Bangladesh and then Team Director from August 2014 to June 2016, a period in which India won
He was all set to get an extension last year when Anil Kumble threw his hat in the ring and Shastri, despite a great performance, was dumped. (sports.ndtv.com)
Known as players' man and a fantastic manager, Shastri became the hot favourite for the post given his cordial relations with Virat Kohli.