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The Board of Control for Cricket in India rubbished a report on a website that it is planning to appoint an Indian assistant coach in place of bowling coach Joe Dawes, whose contract is unlikely to be extended in the wake of a consistent poor show by the bowlers.
"Nothing of this sort is being planned and this is not going to come up at the Working Committee meeting [on Friday in Bhubaneswar]," Board secretary Sanjay Patel said, when asked to respond to a report on Cricinfo.
"We have to take stock of the situation by talking to the coach (Fletcher). India is now touring [playing in the Asia Cup in Bangladesh]," added Patel.
He had earlier informed that the Board officials will have a meeting with Fletcher and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni after the conclusion of the World Twenty20 on April 6.
The coach's contractual tenure, as well as that of bowling coach Joe Dawes and fielding coach Trevor Penney, ends on March 31.
The Cricinfo report, quoting an unnamed BCCI insider, said that while Fletcher and Penney’s tenure is expected to be extended till the 2015 World Cup, Dawes is likely to be given the boot because of the recent poor showing of the Indian bowlers overseas.
‘A BCCI insider confirmed that most of the BCCI bigwigs are 'quite happy' with the way Fletcher and Penney have been handling the team,’ the report stated.
‘However Dawes, who came on board at the end of India's disastrous tour of Australia in 2011-12, seems to have lost the confidence of the BCCI top brass with the Indian bowling consistently faltering in various conditions.
‘The BCCI hasn't been mulling over a like-for-like replacement for Dawes. Instead of a bowling coach, the appointment of an Indian assistant coach is being discussed. A BCCI insider revealed the move would take into consideration the availability of 'top coaches in India now',’ it added.
Image: Joe Dawes and Duncan Fletcher
Photograph: Philip Brown/Reuters