Ravi Shastri To Continue As Indian Men’s Cricket Team Coach, Kapil Dev-Led CAC Announces Its Decision

Ravi Shastri will continue as the head coach of the Indian men’s Cricket team. His new contract has been extended up to next year's T20 World Cup in Australia.

The three-member Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) constituted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), comprising Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad and Shantha Rangaswamy, announced the decision after conducting interviews with at least four other contenders who were in the reckoning.

Anshuman Gaekwad said that Shastri was picked as he was well versed with the system and knows the team very well. He also credited Shastri with a good understanding of team dynamics and communication skills.

The CAC ran a selection process as a part of which it interviewed  five candidates who had applied for the position. All three members of the CAC have unanimously decided to  retain Shastri's services.

Kapil Dev said “We gave marks out of 100. There was a difference of very small numbers, which amazed us as well. Hesson and Moody were very good too.”

Kapil also said that Mike Hesson, the former New Zealand coach, and Tom Moody, the former Sri Lanka and Sunrisers Hyderabad coach, came a close second and third respectively.

The Kapil-led CAC had been formed after the previous panel comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and V V S Laxman had to be disbanded owing to BCCI Ethics Officer finding the last two subject to conflicts of interest under the new constitution of the board .

Shastri has been at the helm of affairs since the end of the Champions Trophy in 2017. He is said to have the strong backing of India's captain Virat Kohli. India were ranked at the top spot in Tests and ODIs at various times during Shastri's previous stint, and had made it to the World Cup semi-final earlier this year. The Indian team also defeated the Aussie team in Australia for the first time in Test history under Shastri.