Ravi Shastri’s holiday in England after the Champions Trophy in June was far from relaxing. The cricket advisory committee (CAC) of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, comprising Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and V.V.S. Laxman, had interviewed him for the position of Team India’s head coach. The wait for the result was, perhaps, more stressful for him than the interview itself.
The CAC finally made its decision public on June 11, and it took Shastri, skipper Virat Kohli and even BCCI officials by surprise. Shastri, 55, who had been the frontrunner for the position, was confirmed as head coach, while India-A coach Rahul Dravid was made overseas batting consultant for Tests. Former pace spearhead Zaheer Khan was appointed bowling consultant.
The decision on Shastri was far from unanimous. The CAC had also interviewed former opener Virender Sehwag and former Australian cricketer and Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody. Apparently, it was impressed by all three applicants, and the presentations by Shastri and Moody were outstanding. The CAC reportedly wanted Kohli to have a say in picking the coach, but he was away holidaying in the US. Ganguly was reportedly keen on appointing Sehwag, but Tendulkar persuaded him to go with Shastri, who would have been Kohli’s choice.
The CAC stood united in its resolve to strengthen the entire coaching setup. “The appointment of Zaheer and Dravid makes sense, as the CAC was looking at the overall aspects of coaching while discussing India’s needs,” said a source who was privy to the talks.
The changes are seen as the CAC asserting itself and these will warrant adjustments in the Indian dressing room. While Sanjay Bangar, whom Kohli respects immensely and often uses as a sounding board, remains as the team’s full-time batting coach, the arrival of Dravid and Zaheer will alter things in terms of approach.
Earlier, the CAC had deferred its announcement after informing Vinod Rai, chairman of the BCCI’s committee of administrators. Rai, however, later had second thoughts, and he called BCCI chief executive officer Rahul Johri to ask the CAC to announce its decision as soon as possible.
This is Shastri’s third stint with Team India. After Greg Chappell’s unceremonious exit as head coach, Shastri was appointed manager during India’s 2007 tour of Bangladesh. In 2014, when Duncan Fletcher was coach, Shastri was brought in for a two-year stint as team director. On both occasions, his job was to boost the sagging morale in the dressing room—and he succeeded in that.
His return as coach, however, is under starkly different circumstances. India is now the world’s number one Test team, led by a captain who wants full control of the team. In his presentation, Shastri told the CAC that he would focus on areas where the team needed to be strengthened—fitness, for instance. He has assured the CAC that he would speak his mind on all matters regarding the team. Apparently, Shastri also wanted the CAC to convey that to Kohli.
A big concern for him is India’s poor record overseas. Of 21 away matches India played between 2013 and 2016, it won just five, and lost and drew eight each. Later this month, India will tour Sri Lanka. Next year it will go to South Africa in January, England in July and Australia in November, and tour New Zealand in January 2019.
Shastri has his task cut out: Make Team India perform overseas as well as it does in home matches, before it goes into the big one—the ICC World Cup in England in 2019.
