UNDER- FIRE MSD
India will get a full- time coach after the World T20 championships in March and April this year, Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Anurag Thakur indicated here on Monday.
Speaking at the launch of a social responsibility programme, ‘ Team Swacch’, by Unicef ambassador Sachin Tendulkar and backed by the International Cricket Council’s ‘ Cricket for Good’ initiative and supported by the Indian cricket board, Thakur said the cricket advisory committee of Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and V. V. S. Laxman would give their inputs to the BCCI on the coach issue.
“A demand for a full- time coach has been there for some time now. We had decided that Ravi Shastri will be team director till the World T20, but there is a need for a full- time coach,” Thakur said.
“The decision will be taken in consultation with the advisory committee. We might decide on a coach even before the World T20 but the proper announcement will only happen after the tournament,” he added.
The BCCI secretary said it was too early to react to the ODI series defeat in Australia and said skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni should not be punished for one poor result.
“Dhoni is India’s most successful captain. Under him we have won two world titles in 2007 and 2011. He has been a consistent captain for the last eight years. Just because of one disappointing series, it is unfair to blame him.
“The team management and the selection committee are discussing what went wrong and what corrective measures need to be taken before the T20 Asia Cup and the World T20,” Thakur said.
On India’s fortunes in the upcoming T20 series Down Under which will see seniors like Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra back in action, Thakur said it was too early to comment.
“Let them go and play. I am sure they would also want their performance to do the talking.”