Special Committee, Shastri to identify coaching and support staff

Since the team is scheduled to leave for Sri Lanka on Wednesday evening, it is expected that the BCCI will announce the names of the specialists on Tuesday.

As an outcome of the CoA directive, the BCCI not only named Shastri as head coach, but also Khan as the bowling consultant and Dravid (appointed coach of the India under-19 and A team) as batting consultant for overseas Test series.

The four-member special committee comprising of BCCI’s acting president C. K. Khanna and Secretary, Amitabh Choudhary, CEO Rahul Johri and the Committee of Administrators (CoA) member, Diana Edulji would consult head coach Ravi Shastri at the Cricket Centre on Tuesday and identify the additional coaching and support staff for the national team, probably for a period of two years ending with the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup in England.

Since the team is scheduled to leave for Sri Lanka on Wednesday evening, it is expected that the BCCI would announce the names of the specialists on Tuesday itself.  

The Special Committee was formed after confusion arose over the appointments of Zaheer Khan and Rahul Dravid as bowling and batting consultants and also to find out if the existing coaching and support staff are free of conflict, like being employed with an IPL franchise and available for appointments.

Last December Sanjay Bangar had to get him released from a five year contract with Kings XI Punjab to work for the national team.

The sudden turn of developments took place after the CoA chairman Vinod Rai nudged the BCCI and thereby the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC)  to announce the name of the head coach on July 11, a day after Sourav Ganguly, representing the CAC, had said there was no hurry to name the head coach as they had to confer with the India captain Virat Kohli.

As an outcome of the CoA directive, the BCCI not only named Shastri as head coach, but also Khan as the bowling consultant and Dravid (appointed coach of the India under-19 and A team) as batting consultant for overseas Test series.

The CoA at its meeting in New Delhi on July 15, decided to hold in abeyance the appointments of Khan and Dravid, probably to find out from Shastri, the roles that should be given to them over the next two years.  

Until the ICC Champions Trophy in England, the then head coach Anil Kumble was assisted by Bangar (batting) and R. Sridhar (fielding), a strength and physical condition coach, assistant trainer, video analyst, masseurs and a logistics manager.

Shastri, who was the Team Director from mid July 2014 to early 2016, is reported to have expressed his preference for Bharat Arun as bowling coach for a two-year stint and also retain most of the existing coaching and support staff.  The special committee is also likely to finalise the salary structure for the coaching and support staff.