5 Reasons why the appointment of the coaching panel is the best move for Indian cricket?

After a lot of controversy and debate, the CAC finally appointed Ravi Shastri as the new head coach of the Indian team until the 2019 World Cup. The former all-rounder has previously taken on team duties as the team director in 2014. The vacancy arose after Anil Kumble resigned following an unsuccessful Champions Trophy campaign in June. His relationship with skipper Kohli ripened and led to an eventual rift. Subsequently, India went for the Caribbean tour without a head coach.

His relationship with skipper Kohli ripened and led to an eventual rift. Subsequently, India went for the Caribbean tour without a head coach. Zaheer Khan has been named bowling consultant for the same tenure, while Rahul Dravid will be India’s batting consultant for overseas Test series.

In this article, we analyse how the appointment of the coaching panel will pay off.

1. Ravi Shastri will bring in vast experience to the coaching squad

Shastri was amongst the five candidates the CAC interviewed for the role, along with Virender Sehwag, Tom Moody, Richard Pybus and Lalchand Rajput. Under his regime as the team director, India made it to the semi-finals of successive global events, the 2015 World Cup and the 2016 World T20. The Men in Blue also climbed to No. 1 spot in Test rankings for a period of eight weeks until February 2016.

He has worked alongside Duncan Fletcher in the early part of his tenure and also took the sole responsibility of the team after the 2015 World Cup. Thus, with a lot of experience in his bag, Shastri can be dubbed as the ideal fit for the post. His first assignment as head coach is the Test series in Sri Lanka, which begins on July 26.

2. Rahul Dravid’s signing can prove extremely beneficial for winning matches overseas

The former Indian batting legend, who gave up his position as the mentor of the Delhi Daredevils, after accepting a two-year contract to coach the India A and Under-19 teams has been elected as India’s batting consultant for overseas Test series. Since Rahul Dravid’s appointment as the India A and U-19 coach in June 2015, the junior Indian teams have witnessed a lot of improvement. And the success has had a positive impact on the senior team as well.

India will be playing a lot of overseas Test series in the coming seasons and Dravid’s appointment as batting consultant will prove extremely beneficial for winning matches overseas. Given his experience of having played there and the technical expertise, he possesses not to forget the stature he has in the eyes of the players.

3. Zaheer Khan is the ideal man to bolster the Indian bowling attack

Former Indian seamer Zaheer Khan has been roped in as the bowling coach. Although he has no formal coaching experience, he has been part of the Delhi Daredevils think tank in the recent IPL seasons. He was also offered the role of bowling consultant last year by the BCCI, but both parties could not come to an agreement over remuneration.

Zak retired very recently and he is without a doubt the best left-arm pacer to have played for the country, he knows how to succeed on the dry wickets in the subcontinent and the areas a bowler needs to focus on while bowling on surfaces that have a lot of juice in them. He like Dravid is a famed cricketer and most bowlers in the country look up to him including the ones in the current setup.

4. Objectives of the coaching team

Ravi Shastri’s primary role in this set up would be to manage and oversee all the affairs of the team. He may be working more like a team director just like his last stint and let people like Zaheer, Dravid, and Sanjay Bangar and R Sridhar handle technical aspects of coaching. It’s not dissimilar to how Andy Flower successfully functioned as team director in England and had specialist coaches for each department of the game. Given how the game is evolving in every department in all three forms of the game, it sure is a sensible to follow this specialist approach.

5. The triad of Shastri-Dravid-Zaheer can do wonders

The appointments finally culminate the period of uncertainty over the India coaching job that began at the end of May, when Kohli told BCCI officials that some players were uncomfortable with Kumble’s approach to man management. The Men in Blue finally has someone at the helm to lead the squad. Shastri’s experience and ability to lift the bunch, keep them inspired to better the performance combined with what Dravid and Zaheer have to offer is a boon for Indian cricket and will no doubt help in rebuilding a healthy atmosphere where the players enjoy the game as well as each other’s success.