Former India captain Ravi Shastri may have been retained as Team Director for the upcoming Bangladesh series, but his appointment came only after BCCI officials had informal discussions with few leading cricketers, who gave their 'vote of confidence' in favour of the former all-rounder.
Shastri is Team India's interim coach for Bangladesh tour
Just to have Shastri is massive boost for us: Kohli
While Sourav Ganguly, in some quarters, is still believed to be a strong contender for the 'High Performance Manager' or the Team Director's role, reliable sources in the Board of Control for Cricket in India said most of the senior cricketers spoke highly about Shastri's ‘man management’ abilities.
"You can be rest assured that the Board of Control for Cricket in India top brass informally sounded out the likes of Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni about their view on the support staff. It has been found that Shastri is immensely popular within this current set-up and the players in general want him to continue. The current BCCI set-up wants inclusive approach and want the players to express themselves," a BCCI official said.
Virat Kohli's statement to a cricket website during the IPL also makes it clear as to what the team and, specifically, captain wants.
"We would love to have him on board even if he is doing the same job right now. Just to have him around the group is a massive boost for us. To have him around the group in some way would be lovely. To have the head coach or who to have and what to do about is all part of the discussion when we sit down," Kohli had said before Shastri's appointment.
Shastri, a veteran of 80 Tests and 150 ODIs, stood behind the beleaguered team after the crushing 1-3 series defeat in England as they turned the corner with victory in the limited-overs' competition.
"If you look at Shastri's performance, how do you find a fault with it? A young team fought well in Australia, won the ODI series in England and reached the semi-finals in the World Cup. They had one bad day against Australia which, unfortunately, was the semi-final. As an astute cricket brain, he stands up alongside anyone in India," the source added.
A member of the Indian team's erstwhile support staff had said during the World Cup Shastri's one-on-one sessions with Shikhar Dhawan changed it all for the left-hander.
Even Kohli has said about how a technical change suggested by Shastri helped score those bagful of runs in Australia that had a whopping four Test tons.
'He is the one who suggested I stand in front of the crease and on off-stump. I was not convinced to begin with. I was thinking in my head that it might expose my stumps. He said just trust me, do it. I did not do it in England. But I went to Australia and I thought about it,' Kohli said.
Even though Shastri has agreed to accompany the team to Bangladesh in the same capacity, it is there to be seen as to how Jagmohan Dalmiya and Anurag Thakur deal with him if he asks for a longer rope in order to build a solid unit and the kind of working relationship he shares with the Cricket Advisory Panel.
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