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Vikram Rathour pips Sanjay Bangar for India batting coach, conflict permitting

Vikram Rathour, has emerged as the first choice of MSK Prasad-led selection committee to be the new batting coach of Team India.

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Former India opening batsman and now a British passport holder, Vikram Rathour, has emerged as the first choice of MSK Prasad-led selection committee to be the new batting coach of Team India.

Emerging from the shadows of "conflict of interest" for his current position with Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA), Rathour was rated ahead of incumbent Sanjay Bangar by the senior selection panel, followed by former England batsman Mark Ramprakash in the list of three names recommended to Committee of Administrators (COA) for its approval.

However, there will be no change with regards to bowling and fielding coach as Bharat Arun and R Sridhar, respectively, have been recommended by the panel to continue till the 2021 World T20.

This was announced by BCCI CEO Rahul Johri after a four-day long interview process that ended on Thursday.

In case of Bangar, the decision has hardly taken anyone by surprise as he was blamed for India's poor batting show in the recently-concluded ICC World Cup. In fact, many in BCCI reason that "it was even more necessary to deflect the blame away from reappointed head coach, Ravi Shastri".

Rathour, a cousin of former BCCI president Anurag Thakur, was previously appointed batting coach at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. But his appointment was later put on hold because of conflict of interest charges as he also happens to be a relative of junior selection panel head Ashish Kapoor, and according to the BCCI's new constitution, it comes under conflict of interest.

That's why Johri revealed while announcing the recommendations that all candidates will be asked to disclose conflict charges, if any.

"Vikram Rathour has got enough experience and we are convinced with his skill sets (as a coach). We will ask him to declare if he has any conflict. The team management had their own views but looking ahead, we felt there should be some freshness in the support staff," said Johri.

Former South African player Jonty Rhodes, who was expected to give strong competition to fielding coach Sridhar, surprisingly didn't even make it to the final list of three with Abhay Sharma and T Dilip emerging as Prasad-led panel's No. 2 and 3 choices, respectively.

"From an interview point of view, he (Sridhar) kicked my butt," Rhodes was quoted as saying during an event in Chennai. "People actually asked me how I've done, I was like I did not know. For the first time, I had to write down things from scratch, from throws to where the hands are (while catching). It was great journey preparing for the post. I've learned a lot," added Rhodes, considered the best fielder of all time.

There was, however, no such competition for the bowling coach's position. The recent exploits of Indian bowlers in different formats and tournament was enough to ensure Arun a top spot ahead of two former India pacers, Paras Mhambrey and Venkatesh Prasad.

Former Team India physio Nitin Patel will make a comeback in the dressing room after spending a few years with Indian Premier League (IPL) side Mumbai Indians. Having been part of the team between 2007 and 2015, Patel was always liked by players and that that put him ahead of experienced Andrew Leipus, who was India's first full-time physio during the John Wright tenure.

Luke Woodhouse, Grant Luden, Rajnikanth Sivagnanam, Nick Webb and Anand Date have been shortlisted for the role of strength and conditioning coach and will undergo another round of interview at the NCA.

Last but not the least, Girish Dongre will replace controversial Sunil Subramaniam as the team's administrative manager.

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