After the gut-wrenching loss of India in the semi-finals of ICC World Cup 2019, to New Zealand after a dominant and confidant game throughout the season, the question of team India’s coach replacement came as a jolt. The current coach Ravi Shastri, has been guiding India from 2017, and so far his contributions were clear in India’s exceptional approach, but all of a sudden things looked bleak after a defeat at the world stage.
After the exclusion of team India, from the World Cup Semi’s, Shastri, along with bowling coach Bharat Arun, batting coach Sanjay Bangar and fielding coach R. Sridhar were given a 45-day tenure, until the board finds a suitable candidate for the job. Four prominent names applied for the job with a promising experience, but India was not yet ready to let Ravi Shastri go, as the Kapil Dev-led Cricket Advisory committee (CAC) decided to retain Ravi Shastri as the coach of Indian National Cricket Team with extension of 2 more years.
Apart from the Ravi Shastri, rest of the big names applying for the job were; Tom Moody, Mike Hesson, Lalchand Rajput and Robin Singh. At one hand, Tom Moody, was the Sri Lankan coach and Australian all-rounder; on the other hand, Mike Hessen has been the coach of New Zealand and Kings XI Punjab. From the other two Indian names, Lalchand Rajput have been the India’s 2007 World T20-winning cricket manager.
However, vocal support from current Indian captain Virat Kohli, and other CAC members being positive about the outcome, Sahstri regained the position without further ado. With India’s recent performance after the World Cup exclusion, fighting against West Indies, was a clear sight to how the team has been improvised with fresh idea and strategies and all will be for the best.
