BCCI forms four-member committee to finalise assistant coaches

The CoA members Vinod Rai, Diana Edulji and the BCCI CEO Rahul Johri met in the Capital on Saturday and approved Shastri's appointment. Strangely, the CoA did not go by the claim of the BCCI that Dravid and Zaheer Khan were consultants for specific overseas tours.

A file picture of Zaheer Khan and Rahul Dravid. “So far, no contracts have been given to Zaheer Khan and Rahul Dravid. They have not been appointed,” says the CoA chief Vinod Rai.

The names of Rahul Dravid and Zaheer Khan, as part of the support staff, on overseas tours, await confirmation after the Committee of Administrators (CoA) chose to decide the issue in consultation with Head coach Ravi Shastri on July 22.

The CoA members Vinod Rai, Diana Edulji and the BCCI CEO Rahul Johri met in the Capital on Saturday and approved Shastri's appointment. Strangely, the CoA did not go by the claim of the BCCI that Dravid and Zaheer Khan were consultants for specific overseas tours.

“We have taken all the recommendations of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) for Shastri as head coach. We will further discuss with him, the appointment of other coaches,” said Rai.

On the status of Dravid and Zaheer, he said, “It’s not an appointment. A recommendation has been made and the CoA has to act on the recommendation. The recommendation will be acted upon in consultation with the head coach.”

Rai said, “Three appointments which are core to the coaching team have been decided. But we have to consult each one of them. We have to ascertain their willingness and ensure there is no conflict of interest.”

It may be recalled that the CAC, that chose Dravid and Zaheer, had expressed “pain” at the impression being created that the duo was thrust upon Shastri. The CAC members Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and V. V. S. Laxman had clarified that the names of Dravid and Zaheer were finalised after consulting Shastri.

However, a Board official had wisely pointed the CAC had clearly exceeded its mandate by naming Dravid and Zaheer as part of the support staff when the three-member panel was only entrusted with the
responsibility of naming the head coach after meeting the applicants.

To fix the remuneration of Shastri and members of the support staff, the CoA has formed a panel including acting Board President C. K. Khanna, acting Board secretary Amitabh Choudhary, Rahul Johri and Diana Edulji. This panel will meet the CoA with its recommendations on July 22.

Meanwhile, it was also decided to release advertisement for team managers for the senior team, India ‘A’ team and the under-19 team.

The Indian team is due to leave on the tour of Sri Lanka on July 19. The first Test will begin on July 26.