Shastri’s contract ends, BCCI to take call on new coach

NEW DELHI: The BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur on Friday said that Team Director Ravi Shastri’s contract has ended but it can be up for renewal if the highprofile Cricket Advisory SPORTS UPDATE Committee (CAC) comprising Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly deems fit. The BCCI had signed a contract with Shastri till the end of the ICC World T20 and it came to an end immediately after India’s ouster in the semi-final. However Shastri’s contract, in case renewed, will be of full-time coach and not director. “Ravi Shastri’s contract has ended. We are looking at a full-time coach and the decision will be taken by the Cricket Advisory Committee. There won’t be a Team Director and a full-time coach. It will be only one post and even Ravi’s contract can come up for renewal,” BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur told PTI on Friday. Asked about chances of Shastri, who has been a popular choice among some of the senior, getting a second term, Thakur said: “It will entirely be CAC’s call. But it will be the post of a full-time coach. CAC has been asked to shortlist the names of the possible candidates for the post.” The decision on the new appointment or renewal will be taken after the ICC World T20 final between West Indies and England on Sunday. “The meeting of the CAC is expected to happen post April 3. It can happen before the start of the IPL also. We will have to decide on the date,” said Thakur. Shastri had taken over in 2014 after India lost the Test series against England 1-3. Under him, the Indian team won the ODI series in England, lost Test series in Australia 0-2 and did not qualify for the finals of the tri-series. But his high-point will be guiding the team to the semi-finals of the 50-over World Cup in 2-15 and a 3-0 whitewash of the Australian team in the T20 Internationals Down Under. India under Virat Kohli also won the Test series 3-0 against South Africa having lost the T20 and the ODI series. The low-point will be losing the limited overs series against Bangladesh. Most of the Indian cricketers have been a fan of Shastri’s man-management skills and he has always lavished praise on the senior cricketers. He has compared Virat Kohli with Viv Richards, told the media not mess with a “legends like MS Dhoni”. Players like Suresh Raina and Shikhar Dhawan, who have seen poor patches of form more often than not, have also been a fan of Shastri for keeping their morale up. (PTI