Ravi Shastri, the former Indian all-rounder, has been given another term as Indian coach. His term will run until 2021, said the Indian Cricket Control Authority on 16 August.
Shastri was one of the six candidates interviewed by a three-member jury for the position. Others who applied for the position were former Indian international Robin Singh, who held a coaching role with the Mumbai Indians, and Lalchand Rajput, who was in charge of Zimbabwe and Afghanistan and was manager, as India’s ICC World T20 2007 won.
Mike Hesson, the former New Zealand coach, who led them to the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015; Tom Moody, former Sri Lanka coach and Sunrisers Hyderabad; and Phil Simmons, who was coach when West Indies won the ICC World T20 2016 title, and also saw Ireland and Afghanistan step up.
Shastri’s association with the team began as a coach when he was named Team Director after the team’s disappointing tour of England in 2014. He held the role until 2016 and returned as coach in 2017 after Anil Kumble resigned.
Since then, he has established a strong partnership with Virat Kohli, and has been responsible for a historic test series victory in Australia and India’s first bilateral victory in the ODI series in South Africa. India remains No. 1 in the ranking of MRF Tires ICC test teams.
With his term following the 2019 Men’s Cricket World Cup, which saw India miss out in the semifinals, the BCCI called for new applications that would automatically include Shastri’s candidacy.
The Supreme Court’s Administrative Committee, which oversees the BCCI, appointed a three-member jury, consisting of former captains Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad, and Shantha Rangaswamy, who are responsible for interviewing candidates and selecting the trainer.
Shastri gave his interview via telephone conference from the West Indies, where the team is on tour. He was granted an extension after the World Cup to accompany the team until the end of the Caribbean tour.
Kohli, the captain, had supported the coach before the departure of the team and said: “We share a great camaraderie with Ravi Bhai and will definitely be very happy if he carries on.”
Meanwhile, Shastri has seldom held back with praise for the captain and said at the beginning of the year, “India is fortunate to have such a leader,” and that “I am fortunate enough to be part of the locker room and see the best player of the world. “
