BCCI finally names Shastri as coach
NEWDELHI: Ravi Shastri was confirmed as the head coach of the Indian cricket team after a 48-hour-long drama late on Tuesday. Former India pacer Zaheer Khan will be the bowling coach while Rahul Dravid, the India A and U-19 coach, will be batting consultant on overseas tours.
Shastri will travel to Sri Lanka this month and his contract is till the 2019 World Cup.
The announcement to name Shastri as Anil Kumble’s replacement came as a surprise because, earlier in the day, acting BCCI secretary Amitabh Choudhary had rubbished reports that claimed Shastri had been appointed. Choudhary had said the Cricket Advisory Committee of Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman was still “deliberating”.
NEW DELHI: The BCCI on Tuesday postponed its Special General Meeting after former president N Srinivasan-led faction raised objections, citing constitutional provisions regarding the notice period.
The faction contended that the 10-day notice to convene an SGM, as per Article 17 sub clause (iii)), was not given by the parent body. The SGM is now expected to be held after July 25 here. Five state associations wrote to the BCCI’s acting president CK Khanna, saying the protocol has not been followed.
The units were, Srinivasan’s Tamil Nadu CA, “disqualified” official Niranjan Shah’s Saurashtra Cricket Association, treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry’s Haryana CA, TC Matthew’s Kerala CA and Karnataka State CA. Khanna then wrote to acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary, asking him to take appropriate steps going by the book. Chaudhary on his part was dejected. “A legally sanctioned meeting could not take place but there were discussions.” Majority of the state associations were in favour of calling the SGM in order to break the impasse and move on by implementing all but three Lodha Committee reforms as recommended by the Special Committee of the BCCI.