BCCI dismisses report on appointment of Indian assistant coach

A Cricinfo report, quoting an unnamed BCCI insider, said Joe Dawes (right) is likely to be given the boot because of the recent poor display of the Indian bowlers overseas. File Photo: Akhilesh Kumar

The Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) on Thursday refuted a report on a website that it was planning to appoint an Indian assistant coach in place of bowling coach Joe Dawes, whose contract is unlikely to be extended in the wake of consistent poor show by the bowlers.

“Nothing of this sort is being planned and this is not going to come up at the Working Committee meeting (tomorrow in Bhubaneswar),” Board secretary Sanjay Patel told PTI when asked to respond to a report in Cricinfo .

“We have to take stock of the situation by talking to the coach (Fletcher). India is now touring (playing in the Asia Cup in Bangladesh),” added Patel.

Patel had earlier informed that the Board officials will have a meeting with Fletcher and Mahendra Singh Dhoni after the conclusion of the World Twenty20, which is scheduled in Bangladesh from April 6.

The coach’s contractual tenure, as well as those of bowling coach Joe Dawes and fielding coach Trevor Penney, ends on March 31.

The

Cricinfo report, quoting an unnamed BCCI insider, said that while the tenure of Fletcher and Penney are expected to be extended till the 2015 World Cup, Dawes is likely to be given the boot because of the recent poor display of the Indian bowlers overseas.

“A BCCI insider confirmed that most of the BCCI bigwigs are ‘quite happy’ with the way Fletcher and Penney have been handling the team,” the report stated.

“However Dawes, who came on board at the end of India’s disastrous tour to Australia in 2011-12, seems to have lost the confidence of the BCCI top brass with the Indian bowling consistently faltering in various conditions.

“The BCCI hasn’t been mulling over a like-for-like replacement for Dawes. Instead of a bowling coach, the appointment of an Indian assistant coach is being discussed. A BCCI insider revealed the move would take into consideration the availability of ‘top coaches in India now’,” it added.