Support staffs to be confirmed by a 4-member panel formed by the BCCI

BCCI acting President CK Khanna, acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary, CEO Rahul Johri and Committee of Administrators member Diana Edulji will combine to form a 4-member panel which will finalise the support staff who will work alongside Ravi Shastri. A decision will then be taken on the contracts that are to be given to the selected personalities.

The CoA met for a meeting in New Delhi on Saturday and came to a conclusion that the new committee will first gather on Tuesday. The decision on the appointment of the supporting coaches will be taken on Saturday. The team will travel to Sri Lanka next to engage themselves in a series which will see the two nations battle in all the formats of the game. However, the Indian team will be flying without a batting and bowling coach.

“The four-member panel will look into the whole aspect of appointing the support staff and then also decide the financial terms of their appointment. In this case, the salary of the head coach will also be decided by them. The final call will be taken on Saturday,” a source told CricketNext.

“Received communication that a 4-member committee has been formed with Rahul Johri as convener. The first meeting is on the 18th in Mumbai,” said Khanna confirming the same.

Therefore the decision of roping in Rahul Dravid as the overseas batting consultant and Zaheer Khan as the bowling coach will be analysed once again. However, the Cricket Advisory Committee comprising of legends in the form of Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman has already informed the CoA that those appointments were made after a green signal from coach Ravi Shastri.

On Dravid and Zaheer’s contracts

Ravi Shastri has demanded the rights to choose his own support staff. Having said that, the 55-year-old has also welcomed the decision to bring in Dravid and Zaheer pointing out that their experience will add to the quality of the team.

CAC member Sourav Ganguly stated that Zaheer Khan has been offered a contract of 150 days per year. “Zaheer was contacted for 150 days per year,” Ganguly told the reporters at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

But the decision will be taken under the scanner by the 4 member committee now. According to a BCCI official, it is too early to predict anything.

“You have to wait for this one. Too early to take a call on Zaheer. Also, Shastri has made it clear that he is okay with Zaheer planning the course of action for the bowlers in the team and someone like a Bharat Arun implementing them on a daily basis. You have to hold your horses,” he told CricketNext.