BCCI not looking to appoint a foreign coach for Team India to replace Ravi Shastri- Report

Shastri's tenure as India head coach will end after the T20 World cup 2021.

Shastri's tenure as India head coach will end after the T20 World cup 2021 | GettyThe Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) may not be looking for a foreign coach as a replacement for Ravi Shastri for the Indian team if reports are to be believed. Shastri’s tenure as the head coach comes to an end with the T20 World cup 2021 completion.

It is learnt as far as the Indian national team goes, the board does not want to appoint an overseas professional as head coach. Four overseas coaches--John Wright, Greg Chappell, Gary Kirsten, and Duncan Fletcher have served as India head coach in the past.

While Chappell’s 2-year tenure proved to be highly volatile, the John Wright years, with Sourav Ganguly as captain, and Gary Kirsten's tenure with MS Dhoni as captain are two of the defining and most successful eras in Indian cricket. 

The new head coach will be an Indian. Unlike the IPL, the Indian coaching job is a round-the-year job, and man-management works out a lot better with an Indian coach,” a BCCI source involved in the process said.

It was further reported that the board was not in favor of bringing back Anil Kumble on board as the head coach. Kumble served as India’s head coach for a year in 2016-17 before calling it quits following a bitter fallout with Kohli. In his letter of resignation, he had called his partnership with Kohli "untenable". Kumble’s less than impressive coaching record in the IPL is being cited as another reason. 

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We have had conversations with leading Indian players. Although their suggestions are not binding, there is no point in creating a potential disturbance in the dressing room,” the same BCCI official said.

BCCI will invite entries for the head coach position soon and have been in informal deliberations with prospective candidates for some time now. VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, and Zaheer Khan are three leading names with IPL coaching experience who could be considered.

The board has also been in touch with NCA director Rahul Dravid, who himself is unwilling to take up the top job at this stage. He was recently the head coach of the Indian team which went to Sri Lanka for a white-ball series.

Bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar will also not be offered contract extensions and a call on batting coach Vikram Rathore’s continuation will be taken in consultation with the new head coach.

(Hindustan Times report)

 
 

By Jatin Sharma - 13 Oct, 2021

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