Ravi Shastri was on Sunday retained as the Team Director of the Indian cricket team till the 2016 T20 World Cup at home, based on the recommendations of the BCCI advisory committee.
Shastri, who was appointed Team Director in August 2014, has been given another seven-month extension till the completion of the World T20 in April. The sixth edition of the tournament is scheduled to be held in India from March 11 to April 3.
The former Indian all-rounder took over the job after the England Test loss last year. The cricketer-turned commentator then saw the team win the ODI series in England.
His two biggest achievements as Team Director are India’s semifinal finish in the 50-over World Cup in Australia and New Zealand along with Virat Kohli’s Test side winning the an away Test series against Sri Lanka after 22 years.
Acknowledging the performance of the Indian Cricket team and the efforts of the coaching staff in recent times, the advisory committee comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman endorsed the extension of their tenure.
Along with Shastri, the Committee also approved the extension of the assistant coaches till the T20 showpiece event next year. Sanjay Bangar stays on as the assistant coach (batting), Bharat Arun remains as bowling consultant and R Sridhar as the fielding coach.
BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya and Honorary Secretary Anurag Thakur appreciated the work done by the coaching staff and accepted the decision unanimously.
It is also speculated that the decision was also prompted by the dearth of the availibility of good coaching candidates.
While Thakur had recently said in Sri Lanka that they will announce the name of a new coach before the South Africa series, Indian team’s comeback in the Test series against Sri Lanka tilted decisively in Shastri’s favour.
While the Cricket Advisory Committee was appointed to suggest names of possible candidates for coach’s post, the high-profile panel only had one meeting since its inception in Kolkata.
