New Delhi: Former captain Ravi Shastri was on Tuesday retained as Director of the Indian cricket team for the tour of Bangladesh starting June 10 as the BCCI continued its search for a new permanent coach to succeed Duncan Fletcher.
Shastri, who served as Team Director during the tour of Australia and the subsequent World Cup earlier this year, is a stop-gap arrangement for the short trip. Fletcher’s tenure had ended earlier this year after the World Cup.
“The BCCI wishes to inform that Mr. Ravi Shastri, former India Captain, has been appointed as Director of the Indian cricket team for the tour of Bangladesh, starting on 10 June 2015,” BCCI Secretary Anurag Thakur said in a statement.
“Mr. Sanjay Bangar, Assistant Coach (Batting), Mr. B. Arun, Assistant Coach (Bowling) and Mr. R. Sridhar, Assistant Coach (Fielding), will assist Mr. Shastri during the tour. Mr. Biswarup Dey will be the Administrative Manager. Mr. Rishikesh Upadhayaya has been appointed as Logistics Manager for the tour,” he added.
Thakur said Shastri’s appointment was a stop-gap arrangement and the Board will name a permanent coach later. The full-time coach’s appointment will be done after consulting the newly-formed advisory committee of the BCCI, which comprises former greats Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman.
“This (the appointment of Shastri) is for the Bangladesh tour and future decisions will be taken after this,” Thakur said.
India will play one Test and three One-Day Internationals during the tour of Bangladesh. From June 10 in Fatullah, India will play the one off Test against Bangladesh, followed by three ODIs in Mirpur (June 18, 21, 24). The team will leave for this assignment on June 7 from Kolkata.
Under Shastri’s guidance earlier this year, the Indian team lost the Test series in Australia 0-2 after a fighting performance but went down tamely in the ODI tri-series that followed. (PTI)
