ICC World Cup 2019 | Sanjay Bangar faces potential axe after India's semi-final exit - Reports

Indian batting coach Sanjay Bangar's place has come under the scanner after the team's poor outing with the bat in the World Cup, which led to the team's elimination from the tournament. Despite carrying the tag of being an assistant coach, Bangar has been the effective batting coach, and despite being handed a 45-day extension post the World Cup, Bangar might face the axe with a certain set of BCCI officials unhappy with his performance. 

While the bowling unit under Bharat Arun and the fielding unit under R. Sridhar have excelled and passed their tests with flying colours, the same cannot be said of the batting unit which has been susceptible, and it failed the ultimate test when the team was under pressure in the semi-final. 

Speaking to IANS, a senior BCCI official said that the decision making and the processes of the support staff were questionable and that every aspect will be analyzed in detail before taking a decision about their future. The official was also critical of Bangar for the way he handled the Vijay Shankar fiasco after the all-rounder was ruled out of the World Cup hours after Bangar stated that all players were fit and available for selection.

“It was a constant struggle. While we are all supportive of the players and they had a good tournament with the exception of this bad day in office (in the semi-final against New Zealand), the support staff’s processes and decision-making will surely be scrutinised thoroughly prior to any decision being taken about their future," the BCCI official told IANS, as reported by Hindustan Times. 

“Also, it was pretty ordinary stuff when you had Bangar stating to the Indian media contingent that every player was available for selection when Shankar was ruled out early next morning on account of an injury sustained earlier on tour," he added, critcising Bangar. 

The official was also critical of certain higher authorities within the BCCI, claiming that the people who assessed the staff's performances were biased and keen on having certain individuals continue their position. The official also blasted the administration for constantly ignoring the words of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) - comprising of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and V.V.S. Laxman. 

"Things have been somewhat disorganised when it comes to the assessment of performances of the support staff being made by people who were keen on having select individuals continue in their positions," the BCCI official said. 

“The present administration set up including the senior employees were all at sea with cricketing decisions and at the same time were ignoring the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) - comprising of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and V.V.S. Laxman - completely and that’s a shame,” he added.

The source also revealed that a couple of Indian batsmen approached former players for help to sort flaws in their batting - a move which sheds a bad light on the batting coach Bangar. 

“Without taking names, it is well documented that a couple of current team members have spoken about how they approached some of the former India batsmen to help them erase flaws in their batting when they were having issues scoring runs,” the official stated.