Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
New Delhi, July 11
After several twists and turns, former Team Director Ravi Shastri was today finally named the head coach of the Indian cricket team, pipping his nearest rival, Virender Sehwag, to the post.
Shastri’s appointment also brought to an end a period of uncertainty which had gripped Indian cricket following the unceremonious exit of his predecessor Anil Kumble.
Shastri has been offered an experienced team to fall back on. The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, brought an element of surprise to the selection by naming former pace spearhead Zaheer Khan as the bowling consultant and former captain Rahul Dravid as the batting consultant for overseas Test series.
Shastri and Khan have been offered contracts until the 2019 50-overs World Cup in England. Their first assignment together would be the Test series in Sri Lanka, which begins on July 26.
While Shastri was considered a frontrunner for the top job, it was good to see Khan and Dravid in the mix, whose selection has caught many in the Indian cricketing circles by surprise. Khan doesn’t boast of a formal coaching experience, though he has mentored younger bowlers in his team in all formats of the sport.
Dravid’s expertise as batting consultant would be of immense help to the young members of the team as India are set to play several Test series overseas over the next two years. Dravid recently stepped down from his position as the mentor of the Delhi Daredevils team, opting for a two-year contract to coach the India A and Under-19 teams.
However, it’s the appointment of the head coach which had caused much speculation in recent weeks.
Shastri wasn’t among the original list of applicants after BCCI had first advertised for the post towards the end of May. It was only after Kumble chose to step down due to an “untenable” relationship with Kohli and the BCCI again reopened the coach’s application process that Shastri sent in his resume.
It was largely perceived that Shastri applied on Kohli’s insistence to have him back in the Indian dressing room, following his tenure as Team Director from 2014 to 2016. During his time with the team, Shastri guided India to the semifinals of the 2015 World Cup and 2016 World T20. India became the world’s No. 1 Test team during his tenure.
He had applied for the head coach’s position in 2016 as well, but lost out to Kumble. But this time, CAC chose him ahead of Sehwag and other three short-listed candidates — Tom Moody, Richard Pybus and Lalchand Rajput.
