So finally BCCI were left impressed by Ravi Shastri’s ‘˜team director’ role during the ODIs against England.
So finally BCCI were left impressed by Ravi Shastri’s ‘team director’ role during the ODIs against England and thus The BCCI Working Committee on Friday retained the former India skipper and the coaching staff headed by Duncan Fletcher until the ICC World Cup early next year in Australia and New Zealand.
That means Shastri, Fletcher and the support staff of Sanjay Bangar, Bharat Arun and MV Sridhar will head this young Indian side into the World Cup next year with the first job of delivering success in the four Tests against the Aussies.
Also, Ravi Shastri will have to cut down on his media commitments until the World Cup next year and look to chart out a plan for India’s success Down Under.
Joe Dawes and Trevor Penney have been demoted by the BCCI to working at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, who were shown the door during the England tour.
Shastri will be in charge of the MS Dhoni-led Team India starting with the home series against West Indies, followed by the Test series against Australia and the triangular series following that leading up to the World Cup 2015. In an interview to a tabloid Shastri was quoted, “I gave it a lot of thought before giving them (BCCI) the green signal. After all, the World Cup is a big assignment. I had to sacrifice my commentary and it would be impossible to handle both (commentary and being with the team) but I think you have to give back to the game, nation and your cricket board,” he added.
It was learnt that MS Dhoni and the rest of the players were left quite impressed with Shastri’s role in the team. The likes of Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane came out of the shadows during the England ODI series that saw the trio score aplenty. India have performed very poor on the overseas tours especially in the recent couple of years. MS Dhoni’s Test side have received the flak from the ex-players and critics for being lethargic and not showing the full potential.
It’s here that Ravi Shastri could come in handy. The real test will be in Australia where the likes of Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle will be waiting in the wings to knock out the Indian batsmen. And Shastri’s vast experience and playing time might prove quite handy with the team that’s lacking a fight under their belly.
