Reports | Kapil Dev-led CAC to take call on India's coaching staff

A three-member Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad and Shantha Rangaswamy, led by the former World Cup-winning skipper, will select the next set of coaching staff for the Indian team, as per reports. The decision was taken after the Committee of Administrators (CoA), currently running the affairs of the Indian cricket board, reinstated the three-member ad-hoc Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC).

While the existing personnel will need to re-apply for their jobs, it is widely believed that head coach Ravi Shastri, bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar will all retain their positions. Despite the World Cup exit, Shastri has enjoyed success in all three formats of the game, with the Indian team under his wings winning for the first time ever in Australia, and senior members of the Indian team are set to be in favour of his reappointment.

“It is very unlikely that he will not be retained. This coaching unit has done well and there has to be continuity. Even the team wants the same,” sources close to the BCCI were quoted as saying by Times of India. 

Dev, Gaekwad and Rangaswamy were informed of the decision on Tuesday, and the trio is set to have obliged to the decision. The eligibility criteria for the head coach and the support staff have been listed on the official BCCI Website, and other interested applicants would need to come up with a presentation in addition to sending their CVs. 

The then CAC committee compromising of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly appointed Shastri as the head coach in 2017, on the back of the Anil Kumble controversy. 

“Those who blame Shastri for coming in mid-way as coach forget that he was always there. It is because of the mess created in the board (BCCI) by certain individuals that he was so rudely and shockingly sidelined. Who do you think came to the Indian team’s rescue when there was nobody (in 2015)? Did anyone raise his hand during the crisis?,” the sources said.

However, it is yet to be seen whether CoA member Diana Edulji will agree to the ad-hoc CAC.  It is believed that Edulji was supposedly not happy with the way the ad-hoc committee was appointed the last time.