Reports of head coach, team director to be tabled at BCCI meet
Mumbai: The reports of head coach Duncan Fletcher and Ravi Shastri, who took over as the Indian team’s director for the second part of the tour to England comprising limited over matches, are to be tabled before the Cricket Board’s working committee for its members’ perusal.
A senior BCCI functionary told PTI on Monday that the Board was interested in the members discussing the reports of Fletcher and Shastri during the September 26 meeting.
“Let the members see the reports and discuss them,” said the Board official.
India were humbled 3-1 by England after taking a 1-0 lead in the five-match Test series leading to a public outcry following which the BCCI had appointed former all rounder turned TV commentator Shastri as the team’s overall in-charge of cricket affairs.
The BCCI also gave a break to two other foreign assistant coaches – bowling coach Joe Dawes and fielding coach Trevor Penney – after the team’s dismal Test outing and replaced them with former Indian cricketers turned coaches Sanjay Bangar and Bharat Arun.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team bounced back to thrash England 3-1 in the best of five ODI rubber but then succumbed to the hosts by 3 runs in the one-off T20 international yesterday which brought down curtains on the tour.
BCCI has hinted that it’s awaiting Shastri’s report to decide on Fletcher’s future though the Zimbabwean has been contracted to coach the team till the next World Cup to be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand in February-March next year.
Board members had an informal gathering in Chennai yesterday to pledge support to sidelined president N Srinivasan and decided to convene a working committee meeting on the 26th, most likely in Chennai.
Consequently the Board’s AGM cannot be held before September 30 as a three-week notice needs to be given for the AGM as per the BCCI’s Memorandum of Rules and Regulations.
“After taking all the possible technical and legal opinions, at the moment, there seems to be no other option but to postpone the AGM,” BCCI Secretary Sanjay Patel had said after Sunday’s informal meeting. (PTI)