BCCI and CoA appoint Bharat Arun as the Indian bowling coach

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials and the Committee of Administrators (CoA) paid attention to the demands of Indian head coach Ravi Shastri and appointed Bharat Arun as the bowling coach. Shastri remained adamant about the inclusion of Arun into the ranks as a full-time bowling coach, given that Zaheer Khan would only be available only for 150 days.

The drama surrounding the head coach doesn’t seem to end as the CoA kept the appointments of Zaheer and Rahul Dravid on hold until July 22, despite the earlier confirmation by CAC as well as BCCI on their employment when they named Shastri the head coach. The governing bodies finally gave in to the request of Shastri and appointed Arun as the specialist bowling coach who previously worked under Shastri when he was the team director.

Bharat Arun is scheduled to join the Indian Team for the Sri Lanka tour starting July 22, where he would reunite with his old colleagues Sanjay Bangar and R Shridhar. “That has always been the practice and we’ve followed that by granting Ravi’s request. Arun will be back as the bowling coach,” commented a CoA member according to MumbaiMirror.

India still would require the services of Dravid and Zaheer

Arun’s recall, however, does not mean that the CoA has totally rejected the recommendations of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) which had suggested the names of Rahul Dravid and Zaheer Khan as bowling and batting consultants. “Their services will also be utilised too but it will be as per the need,” said the CoA member. “They will be pressed into service for the overseas tours but Ravi will have a say on that too,” the member added.

To decide on the ways to utilise the services of the two consultants, the CoA has formed a four-member committee comprising Diana Edulji, CK Khanna, Amitabh Choudhary and Rahul Johri. The panel will decide on the terms and conditions of their engagement as well as the remuneration packages.