Ravi Shastri to return as commentator or in IPL; Vikram Rathour eyeing head coach role – Report

BCCI has invited applications for the posts of India's head coach, batting coach, bowling coach, and fielding coach.

Ravi Shastri's tenure as head coach will end after T20 World Cup 2021 | GettyThe Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Sunday (October 17) invited applications for the positions in India's senior men's cricket team, which includes head coach, batting coach, bowling coach, and fielding coach.

The applications for the role of a head coach should be submitted by 5 PM on October 26, 2021, while for the rest of the positions the deadline is November 3, 2021.

The official press release by the cricket board also mentioned the invitation of applications for the position of Head Sports Science and Medicine with the National Cricket Academy (NCA), which should be submitted by 5 PM on November 03, 2021.

One eligibility criteria for all candidates who apply for any coaching role is: ‘Should be below 60 years of age at the time of appointment’.

The stints of current Team India head coach Ravi Shastri, bowling coach Bharat Arun, batting coach Vikram Rathour and fielding coach R Sridhar will be over soon after the T20 World Cup in UAE and Oman.

Notably, Shastri will turn 60 in May 2022 while Arun will complete 59 in the coming December. On the other hand, Rathour is 52 going on 53 and Sridhar is 51.

While all of them are eligible to re-apply, a report published in TOI suggests that none other than Rathour will send their applications for any of the coaching positions.

As per the report, Shastri, Arun and Sridhar will walk away whereas Rathour, who was appointed as batting coach in August 2019, may apply for the role of the head coach as well as batting coach.

According to TOI, Shastri wants to slow down a bit and is ready to take a backseat after playing numerous roles in his career so far.

“He’ll be selective. He’ll be open to working with an IPL franchise. Year-round travel is something he would like to avoid now,” TOI quoted saying those who have his ear.

Shastri can also return to commentary if he wants to as TOI quoted industry executives saying: “He’ll be welcomed with a red carpet. Tell me a voice that is more identifiable than his.”

Similarly, Arun and Sidhar also want to move on and might associate with some IPL franchises.

Meanwhile, BCCI is yet to form a Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) that will interview the candidates for various coaching positions. As per reports, the Indian board will introduce a completely new CAC to interview the coaches.

Moreover, some reports claim that former India skipper Rahul Dravid is all set to become the next head coach of the national team and if this is true, he will have to go through the same interview process as well.

(With TOI inputs)

 
 

By Salman Anjum - 18 Oct, 2021

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