Former captain Ravi Shastri has been appointed the new head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team till the 2019 World Cup. Shastri’s first assignment will be a tour of Sri Lanka featuring three Tests, five ODI’s and a one-off T20 International starting July 26.
Meanwhile, Zaheer Khan has been named bowling coach while Rahul Dravid will be batting coach for overseas tours.
Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) members Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly appointed Shastri as head coach after interviewing the five candidates- Virender Sehwag, Tom Moody, Richard Pybus, Lalchand Rajput and Ravi Shastri.
Here is BCCI’s official press release:
“The BCCI announces the appointment of Mr. Ravi Shastri as the Head Coach, Mr. Zaheer Khan as the Bowling Consultant and Mr. Rahul Dravid who will be the Overseas Batting Consultant (Test cricket) for the Indian Cricket Team.
As part of the process for selecting the Head Coach, the Cricket Advisory Committee comprising of Mr. Sachin Tendulkar, Mr. Sourav Ganguly and Mr. VVS Laxman conducted the interviews and recommended these appointments in the best interest of the Indian Cricket.
The term of the appointments will be till the World Cup 2019.
Mr. Shastri has been the Team Director in the past, and brings with him a wealth of experience, both as player and as coach.
Mr. Khan is a contemporary cricketer who assumed the mentoring role to a young fast bowling unit even during his playing days with India. His inputs will be of immense value to our young fast bowlers, who have shown tremendous potential in the last couple of years.
As the Indian team is to play Test cricket overseas in the next two years, Rahul Dravid’s expertise as batting consultant will be immensely helpful for youngsters.
The Board appreciates the contribution of the Cricket Advisory Committee – Mr. Sachin Tendulkar, Mr. Sourav Ganguly and Mr. VVS Laxman for recommending these appointments which will take Indian Cricket to greater heights.
The Board would like to wish these Gentlemen the very best and they along with the players together will take Indian Cricket to new heights.”
