Third in race n Captain's public support for Ravi plays huge role, despite claims that he will not be consulted
Surprise, surprise.
"Are you ready for the surprise?" were the words of a Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) member as he/she came out after finishing the interviews of five aspirants of the Team India head coach job.
Well, the word "surprise" turned out to be an actual surprise when former India 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev announced that Ravi Shastri has been selected as head coach ahead of the two other foreigners, Mike Hesson and Tom Moody, on the basis of five parameters.
There were hardly any takers for Dev's explanation that Shastri's selection was based on five separate categories – coaching philosophy, experience, achievements, communication and knowledge of modern coaching tools.
Otherwise, how come Hesson and Moody, with their proven track record, were pipped by a once famous commentator with zero coaching skills prior to his stint with India?
For the record, former New Zealand coach Hesson stood second while ex-Sri Lanka coach Moody finished third in the pecking order.
DNA has learnt that Dev was not willing to announce Shastri's name in the press conference arranged at the end of meeting. The former all-rounder was apparently unhappy over the decision of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that the CAC was not to be consulted while picking the support staff of the team.
It was only after he was convinced that "all this has been decided as per the new BCCI constitution where the selection panel is authorised to pick the others", Dev agreed to sit before the waiting press.
So, the verdict came out unanimously by all three members of the CAC – Dev, former India opener and coach Anshuman Gaekwad and former India women's team captain Shanta Rangaswamy – that Shastri's services were to be retained.
(India captain Virat Kohli has expressed his opinion on Ravi Shastri continuing as coach of the team ahead of the West Indies tour - Reuters)
Going by an insider account, it was CAC which was "surprised" by Shastri's one-hour long presentation made through Skype from the West Indies.
"Hesson was nearly close but then it was Shastri's experience of handling a star-studded team that clinched the race," the insider said.
In fact, Shastri's selection was only a formality after Team India skipper Virat Kohli publically announced his backing for his "favourite" coach before taking a flight to the West Indies.
"Basically, being the current coach and knowing the boys well or knowing the problems well in the team, I think Ravi is well-versed with the entire system. If somebody knows the system, knows the players well and can communicate well, I think he has the advantage," Gaekwad said after the meeting.
So, why did the BCCI top brass, including Committee of Administrators (COA), keep repeating the same line that "there is no pressure on CAC" till the final interviews were held on Friday?
COA chief Vinod Rai certainly needs to answer why the same set of players (Dev, Gaekwad and Rangaswamy), who are involved in the affairs of Indian Cricketers Association (ICA), were given the charge to pick the national team head coach "without consulting skipper Kohli".
Be it CAC or any other player in India, everyone knows what it means to go against Kohli or any other star player of Team India.
"If Kohli's opinion is not respected, you may not be part of any other BCCI committee or in selection panel for sure," said a player citing Mohinder Amarnath's example who tried to replace Mahendra Singh Dhoni against the wishes of the then BCCI president N Srinivasan.
And the ruling BCCI administrators have very limited choice when it comes to forming committees. Otherwise, how come Gaekwad figures in all committees that granted full membership to Puducherry, Chandigarh and now Uttrakhand?
That's the reason one of the COA members, Diana Edulji, was the lone voice against the formation of the Kapil-led CAC. She was ultimately overruled by Rai and Ravindra Thodge, like many other times including when she opposed the formation of an in-house panel by Rai to deliberate on CEO Rahul Johri's allegened sexual assualt case.
For the record, this will be Shastri's fourth stint with the national team, having served briefly as the Cricket Manager (2007 tour of Bangladesh), Team Director (2014-2016) and head coach (2017-2019).
Kapil wants say in support staff
Former India captain and head of Cricket Advisor Committee Kapil Dev said that he wants the committee to be involved in the decision making of the support staff. Currently the interview process will have to be helmed by the national selection committee, which is headed by MSK Prasad.
“We should have a role as well. If you ask me I personally feel, and we’ve given a letter to BCCI as well. We’ve put it in black and white, in the minutes, that it is not right that we’re not doing that job also,” said Dev. “It should not be a communication gap. Their strength and our strength is the same for the team. We want to make sure that the team gets benefitted. That’s what we wanted and if we can help them and chairman of selection committee and his team can help,” Dev added.
The Criterias
Below are the 5 categories in which the CAC rated the candidates:
- Coaching philosophy
- Experience of coaching
- Coaching achievements
- Communication
- Knowledge of modern coaching tools
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 "Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad, Shantha Rangaswamy")
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