The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday (August 16) re-appointed Ravi Shastri as the head coach of Team India for the next two years.
The contract of Shastri-led coaching staff had terminated after India’s ouster from the World Cup on July 10. However, they were given an extension till the West Indies tour, slated to culminate on September 3.
The decision to re-appoint Shastri was unanimously taken by the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) consisting of Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad and Shantha Rangaswamy. The CAC was formed by Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) to shortlist and pick the head coach of the national side.
Apart from Shastri, Tom Moody, Mike Hesson, Mahela Jayawardene, Robin Singh and Lal Chand Rajput were some of the leading names who had applied for the position of Team India’s head coach job.
Team India performed exceptionally well under the first coaching stint of Shastri. It is worth mentioning here that India became the first Asian team to win a Test series on Australian soil earlier this year. The Men in Blue also retained the Asia Cup last year and also defeated South Africa in limited-overs cricket away from home.
However, India failed to win a major ICC event under Shastri’s guidance. Shastri was appointed as chief coach in 2017 after Anil Kumble’s tenure ended prematurely in controversial circumstances. He was also Team India’s director of cricket from August 2014 to June 2016.