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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is set to announce head coach of the Indian cricket team at 6 pm on Friday, with Ravi Shastri a runaway favourite to retain the job that he has been involved in since 2017. Shastri has been occupying the post of the Indian team head coach after Anil Kumble stepped down from the role post-Champions Trophy 2017 due to differences with captain Virat Kohli. The Indian team has since enjoyed a positive run, having registered a historic 2-1 Test series win over Australia Down Under and reaching the semi-finals of the 2019 ICC World Cup, aside from enjoying a dominant run on home soil. Shastri, along with his coaching staff comprising batting coach Sanjay Bangar, bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar, were given a extension of 45 days after their contracts expired at the end of the World Cup. Shastri and his staff are currently in the Caribbean, where the ‘Men in Blue’ remained undefeated across the limited-overs fixtures against the West Indies, winning the T20I and ODI series 3-0 and 2-0 respectively and are now scheduled to take part in a two-match Test series. While Shastri re-applied for the job, he was joined by the likes of Tom Moody, Mike Hesson, Robin Singh, Lalchand Rajput, Phil Simmons in the race to the job. Barring Shastri, who will be interviewed via Skype, the candidates are in the process of getting interviewed by the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) — comprising Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad and Shanta Rangaswamy. Shastri is a strong favourite for the job given his proximity to India captain Kohli, who had earlier stated he would like to see him continue in the role.
Team India New Head Coach Announcement Updates: Ravi Shastri to continue as Team India head coach, gets two-year contract extension
Members of CAC announced the head coach of the Indian cricket team at board’s headquarters in Mumbai. Ravi Shastri will continue until 2021 World T20.
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And that brings us to the end of our live coverage of the India head coach announcement. There were hardly any surprises in the Cricket Advisory Committee’s announcement, with Ravi Shastri getting a two-year extension in his current job along expected lines. Read the full report here .
There might be a champagne bottle popping somewhere in a hotel in Antigua in celebration of the news. The Kohli-Shastri has proved beneficial so far for the ‘Men in Blue’ over the last two years. Let’s see whether they can continue the positive run till the 2021 ICC World T20.
Thank you for following our coverage. Keep following Firstcricket for more coverage on India’s ongoing tour of the West Indies, The Ashes, New Zealand’s tour of Sri Lanka and more.
There you go. Shastri’s on top, as expected.
Gaekwad on picking Shastri vs picking WV Raman as India women’s coach:
“No it wasn’t any different. We basically followed the same process.”
Kapil Dev on consulting Kohli:
“We didn’t consult Virat Kohli, else we would have asked the entire team. We did not ask anyone.”
Anshuman Gaekwad on why Shastri was picked:
“Being a current coach, knowing the boys and problems in the team, he is well-versed in the system. Somebody knows the system and knows the players very well, he has the advantage.”
Kapil Dev on parameters in picking the coach:
“There coaching skills, experience, knowledge of the game, game were some of the parameters.”
Shastri is the coach after all!
Kapil Dev: We already decided. The system was very simple. After the meeting of four-five-six hours, all three of hours had our own marking. Neither of us consulted each other. We all unanimously decided after doing all the accounts and number.
No 3 Moody. No 2 Mike. No 1 is Ravi Shastri, which you all were expecting!
Ravi Shastri
Teams coached: India
Shastri, has the least coaching experience among all candidates but us still the favourite to land the job. He was the manager for just one series of the national side after India’s unexpected outser from the 2007 World Cup.
The former all-rounder was then appointed as the Team director in 2014 till early 2016.
Shastri’s application for head coach’s role in 2016 created controversy because he had opted for a video interview from Bangkok. However, Anil Kumble’s unceremonious exit post-2017 Champions Trophy saw the arrival of Shastri as India’s head coach which he still holds.
Under Shastri’s coaching tenure, Virat Kohli-led India recorded its maiden Test series victory in Australia. India also registered their first-ever ODI bilateral series in South Africa. While losing Test series during the same tour. Visitors India then lost 3-1 to England in 2018 while India were defeated by New Zealand in World Cup semi-final in England and Wales in 2019.
The culmination of the World Cup meant an end to his contract as a coach but he along with the support staff were offered a 45-day extension for the tour of America and the Caribbean, where India won both the T20I and ODI series.
Lalchand Rajput
Teams coached: Mumbai Indians, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe
Rajput along with Hesson are two candidates who didn’t meet BCCI’s eligibility criteria of the applicant of having an experience of minimum of 30 Tests or 50 ODIs. Despite the criteria, the board allowed them due to their coaching credentials. The former Indian batsman has coached U-19 Indian teams for specific overseas tours. In 2007 he was appointed as the manager of the Indian team which lifted the inaugural World T20 held in South Africa.
Thereafter, he joined Mumbai Indians as a coach and saw the side finish just one place outside the playoffs in the maiden season of IPL in 2008.
Rajput replaced Pakistan’s Inzamam-ul-Haq as Afghanistan’s coach in 2016. Afghanistan gained the status of full-member when he was the coach.
In May 2018, Rajput was named as the interim head coach of Zimbabwe before he was offered a permanent role in August 2018.
Robin Singh
Teams coached: India U-19s, Hong Kong, Deccan Chargers, Mumbai Indians, Barbados Tridents
The former India all-rounder is best known for his agile fielding. He was a part of the side in the 1990s which didn’t uphold lofty fielding standards. Singh began his coaching career with with Indian U-19 team before becoming Hong Kong’s coach in 2004, and guiding team to qualify for their first-ever Asia Cup appearance in 2004.
Later, Singh, was appointed as the coach of the India A side in 2006, while he was drafted as the fielding coach for the national team from May 2007 and held the position for the next two years
The Trinidad-born Singh then went on to coach Deccan Chargers in the inaugural season of the IPL, which saw the team finish last in the eight-team competition in 2008. However, he turned his fortunes around with Mumbai Indians by taking them to their maiden title with the Champions League T20 in 2011. He was then appointed as the batting coach.
Singh has also had coaching stints in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) where he was the head coach of Barbados Tridents and he led them to their only title win in 2014. Singh has also helped coach the senior and junior USA cricket teams. In 2011, Singh coached the United States women’s cricket team at the World Cup Qualifier Tournament in Bangladesh.
CAC, you reading this?
Tom Moody
Teams coached: Sri Lanka, Western Warriors, Kings XI Punjab, Uthura Rudras, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rangpur Riders, Multan Sultans
The former Australian all-rounder is one of the most renowned coaches going around the cricketing world with a wealth of experience that is spread across 14 years. In 2005, Moody was appointed as head coach of Sri Lanka and he famously led them to the final of the 2007 ICC World Cup, before returning to the grinds of domestic cricket as he took over the reigns of Western Australia for three years.
Moody’s success in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with Sunrisers Hyderabad made him almost synonymous with the franchise. Under him, the Sunrisers won their maiden IPL title in 2016 and made it to the playoff stage five times.
In 2017, the 53-year-old was appointed as the head coach of Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League for 2018 season.
Like Hesson, Moody, too parted ways with Sunrisers and joined the race of India’s head coach.
Mike Hesson
Teams coached: Otago, Kenya, New Zealand, Kings XI Punjab, Argentina
Mike Hesson is an only outlier among all the shortlisted candidates for he has no experience of playing at the international level. However, the 44-year-old holds the distinction of being the longest serving coach of the Black Caps, with his impressive and a vast coaching experience. Hesson started out his coaching career with Otago where he served for 15 years and then made his entry into international cricket with taking up the responsibility of Kenya after the 2011 World Cup, but resigned much before the completion of his two-year contract citing security reasons. He then took over from John Wright as the New Zealand’s head coach in 2012.
The Black Caps thrived under Hesson, reaching its first-ever World Cup final in 2015 as a result of which his contract was extended in 2016 until the end of the 2019 World Cup. However, Hesson resigned during in June 2018 on the grounds that he wanted to spend more time with his family.
Hesson also served as the head coach of IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab before stepping down on 8 August to become eligible to apply for the position of India’s head.
Simmons backs out…
Former West Indies cricketer Phil Simmons has opted out of the India head coach race citing personal reasons, leaving the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) with five candidates to choose from. Read the full report here .
Still have doubts over the whole drama surrounding the Indian team head coach appointment?
Here are some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) that we have answered as far as BCCI’s selection process of the Indian cricket team head coach is concerned. Do give it a read!