India captain Virat Kohli said on Monday that he will be happy to see Ravi Shastri continue as India head coach but the committee responsible for appointing the next coach has not contacted him yet for advice.
The Cricket Advisory Committee led by World Cup-winning former captain Kapil Dev has been entrusted with the responsibility of selecting India’s new senior men’s team coach, the interviews for which are expected to be conducted in mid-August.
Speaking in Mumbai ahead of the team’s departure to West Indies, Kohli – sitting alongside Shastri – spoke about the team’s bond with the former India all-rounder.
“Well, the CAC has not contacted me on this. But all of us share a great camaraderie with Ravi bhai and would definitely be very happy (to have him around),” Kohli said.
“But as I had said, it’s on the CAC to decide (how to go about it).”
Shastri and his support staff, who were handed a 45-day extension after their contract came to an end during the 2019 World Cup, were told to reapply as the Board of Control for Cricket in India invited fresh applications for the senior men’s team support staff last week. However, Anshuman Gaekwad said there was no need to replace Shastri given his current track record as head coach.
“Speaking purely from the results perspective, he has done quite well. So, besides Ravi, all other positions [in the coaching and support staff] in my opinion are open depending on who is applying, their credentials and whether they meet the criteria of the BCCI,” former India coach Gaekwad was quoted as saying recently.
They may have failed to win the T20 World Cup in 2016 and the ODI World Cup in 2015 and 2019, but the Shastri-Kohli duo helped India climb the top of the Test rankings with a historic series triumph in Australia.
Shastri was the team director till June 2016 until India lost in the World T20 semi-finals before being reappointed as head coach in 2017 after Anil Kumble was removed following his differences with Kohli.
The interviews of applicants for India’s head coach are likely to take place on August 13 and/or August 14. The deadline for filing the applications for the head coach and support staff is July 30.
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