Ravi Shastri to stay as director
Shastri will hold post till T20 WC; coaches Sridhar, Arun, Bangar retained
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2015-09-14 01:08 GMT
New Delhi: Ravi Shastri will remain Team India director till the World T20 championships in March-April 2016, the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced on Sunday. Apart from extending Shastri’s contract, the tenures of three associate coaches — Sanjay Bangar (batting), Bharat Arun (bowling) and R. Sridhar (fielding) — were also increased for a similar period.
Praising the performance of the Indian team and the efforts of the coaching staff in recent times, the advisory committee comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and V.V.S. Laxman, endorsed the extension of their tenure.
India have been without a head coach since Duncan Fletcher’s departure in March when his term came to an end after India’s semi-final defeat at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Former India all-rounder Shastri took over following the defeat to England in Tests in August 2014. His two biggest achievements as team director include India’s semi-final finish at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand along with Virat Kohli-led Test team winning an away series against Sri Lanka after 22 years.
BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya and honorary secretary Anurag Thakur appreciated the work done by the coaching staff and arrived at the decision unanimously. While Thakur had recently said in Sri Lanka that the board will announce the name of a new coach before the South Africa series, the team’s comeback in the Test series against Sri Lanka tilted decisively in Shastri’s favour. While the cricket advisory committee was appointed to suggest names of possible candidates for coach’s post, the high-profile panel only had one meeting since its inception in Kolkata.