Former Indian batsman and Indian Cricket team’s serving head coach, Ravi Shastri has been re-appointed to the post, leaving behind speculations of him being replaced after India’s dramatic exit from the semi-final stage of the 2019 Cricket World Cup.
The CAC reappoints Mr Ravi Shastri as the Head Coach of the Indian Cricket Team. pic.twitter.com/vLqgkyj7I2
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 16, 2019
Shastri’s contract was to expire after the 2019 World Cup but was extended till the ongoing West Indies tour. BCCI’s three-member Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) which included Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad and Shanta Rangaswamy interviewed six shortlisted candidates after the board received around 2000 applications for different positions in the team. Shastri was most likely to be selected for the post among the other names which included Tom Moody, Mike Hesson, Robin Singh, Lalchand Rajput and Phil Simmons, as he is backed by the Indian skipper Virat Kohli and all other members of the team.
Ravi Shastri has been with the team since 2014 where firstly he served as team director. Later, he was appointed as the head coach in 2017 after former Indian spinner, Anil Kumble stepped down from the post. During his tenure of two years (2017-2019), the team has done well across all formats of the game whether it be red-ball cricket or white-ball cricket, but the World Cup exit raised several questions.
Now, as he has been re-appointed for another two years that extends up to the 2021 T20I World Cup to be held in India, Shastri will look to capitalize on the chance and deliver high standard performances to answer his critics.
Feature Image Courtesy: AFP/ Phil Magakoe
