Ravi Shastri's appointment: Was Zaheer Khan roped in to please unconvinced Sourav Ganguly?

The Indian cricket team finally got a head coach on Tuesday as the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) gave former India all-rounder Ravi Shastri as it's choice. CAC members Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman also thought fit to choose Zaheer Khan as the bowling coach and Rahul Dravid as a batting consultant for foreign tours.

While the announcement came after days of drama, as it turns out there is more to it than meets the eye. A BCCI official has revealed that Ganguly was not convinced about Shastri's appointment right till the very end.

"Sourav was brought around and convinced about Ravi after it was agreed that Zaheer would be made the bowling coach. Zaheer is such a name that no one could have possibly objected to due to his repertoire of knowledge and a fantastic relation with the current crop," the official was quoted as saying by PTI.

The source further added, "Khan is a contemporary cricketer who assumed the mentoring role to a young fast bowling unit even during his playing days with India. His inputs will be of immense value to our young fast bowlers, who have shown tremendous potential in the last couple of years."

It must be remembered that Ganguly and Shastri had a bit of a showdown the last time there was the interview for the coaching job. Back then, Shastri was not available in person to give the interview. It did not go well with Ganguly and eventually Anil Kumble was chosen as the national coach.