BCCI appoints Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman to new advisory committee

In a move that will delight cricket fans across the country, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman will form the BCCI’s new cricket advisory committee. [caption id=“attachment_2272856” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Together again. AFP[/caption] In a tweet, BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur expressed his delight at the legendary cricketers giving the BCCI their nod to become part of the cricket set-up in the country after a conference call today. “On behalf of all my colleagues in the BCCI, I thank Sachin, Sourav and Laxman for having accepted our invitation to be part of this prestigious committee and I am confident that their invaluable advice will help Indian Cricket regain its leadership position in all formats of the game. Their participation augurs well for the future of the game in our country and the noble intention to ‘give back to the game’, is commendable,” said BCCI Secretary, Anurag Thakur, in a press release. The board has been talking about setting up the advisory committee since Jagmohan Dalmiya and Anurag Thakur took over as BCCI president and secretary respectively in March this year. Earlier reports mentioned Ganguly, Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid as the three men the board wanted. The committee is formed with a view to enable Indian Cricket be better prepared for the challenges of the future. The statement from BCCI confirmed that areas of immediate focus will be, “to provide guidance to our national team as we set out to enhance our performance on overseas engagements, provide direction to improve our talent pathway and take steps to strengthen domestic cricket to better prepare our players to handle the rigours of International Cricket.” President of BCCI, Jagmohan Dalmiya said, “I am happy to note that our eminent cricketers have come forward to lend their experience and insights as we work towards a common goal of taking Indian Cricket to greater heights. The coming generations are bound to benefit from the guidance that will be provided by these luminaries and will go a long way in strengthening our existing system.” The 42 year-old Tendulkar played a whopping 200 Tests (15921 runs) and 463 ODIs (18426 runs) apart from a T20 International before retiring in 2013. The 43-year-old Ganguly played in 113 Tests and 311 ODIs for India apart from leading the country to the final of 2003 World Cup. The 40-year-old Laxman played in 134 Tests and 86 ODIs. It has been learnt from reliable sources that Thakur and Dalmiya will consult with the panel on all major cricketing decisions. While there had been lot of speculation of late regarding Ganguly’s appointment as chief coach or Team Director, his appointment in advisory panel might mean that either Ravi Shastri will continue in his current role or a new chief coach and support staff will be taking charge. According to BCCI sources, the Indian cricketers can seek technical advise from the trio and the Board wants batsmen to specifically speak to Tendulkar before any tough international assignment. Ganguly might well be consulted for preparing a blueprint for success of the team overseas with Laxman working on the bench-strength and the new talent coming in through the system. The new innings that the cricketers are starting out on comes at a time when Indian cricket is going through a transition period. Virat Kohli replaced MS Dhoni as Test captain in December last year and leads a still relatively inexperienced side. India have also struggled away from home over the last four years. India’s best period away from home came under Ganguly’s captaincy at at time when the Fab Four were in fine form. With inputs from PTI