Ganguly wanted Dravid as consultant
Mumbai, Sept. 5: Having criticised head coach Ravi Shastri and Sanjay Bangar over their inability to solve India’s batting woes on away tours, Sourav Ganguly recalled his futile attempt to appoint Rahul Dravid as a batting consultant for overseas tours.
After the Cricket Advisory Committee — comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and V. V. S. Laxman — announced Shastri as Anil Kumble’s successor, it was also declared that Dravid and Zaheer Khan would be batting and bowling consultants respectively for overseas tours. But due to an intervention from the Committee of Administrators, only Shastri’s appointment was confirmed.
“Dravid had been asked to become a batting consultant and he had even agreed. But then he spoke to Ravi and I don’t know what happened after that. The Committee of Administrators also had added to the confusion with the coach selection and we were tired and just got out of it. So it’s difficult for me to say why Dravid did not become the batting consultant. But if Shastri was given the responsibility, after consulting Virat Kohli, then he has to fulfil that responsibility and improve the team,” Ganguly was quoted as saying to India TV.
CoA chief Vinod Rai later mentioned that they assigned the CAC to only appoint the coach and that the board wasn’t aware of any additional appointments. As a result, Bangar and Bharat Arun took over as batting and bowling coach.
“Kumble had a one- year contract. It had no renewal or extension clause. When the CoA took over, we got to know a month later that his contract was expiring and we followed the protocol that was followed during his appointment. The idea was to select the head coach by the CAC — comprising of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman. Transparency requires you to follow a process and the due process throws up a result.
“The CAC was the entrusted body and they did what they felt was best. It wasn’t an unceremonious exit as his contract was only for a year. We made no statements on Zaheer Khan or Rahul Dravid’s appointments. Our job was to select the head coach through the due process,” he explained.