BCCI thanks Ravi Shastri for his role as Team India director

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) thanked former Team India manager Ravi Shastri, who lost out in the race for the new permanent head coach of the India, for doing a commendable job during his two-year association with the Men in Blue.

Shastri, who was entrusted with the role of overseeing the affairs of the men's team after India's embarrassing reversal of fortunes during the tour of England in 2014, did a pretty decent job considering the demoralising condition the players were in at the time. Prior to the 3-1 series loss against England, India had been whitewashed 4-0 twice, once against England and another time against Australia, after Zimbabwean Duncan Fletcher took over the reigns of India from Gary Kirsten post the 2011 World Cup win.

The team’s dwindling fortunes forced the BCCI to make changes with Shastri being appointed as the Director of Cricket for India while the likes of Sanjay Bangar, Bharat Arun and R Sridhar were added to the coaching staff to work alongside Fletcher.

Though the former England coach was still retained in his capacity until the culmination of the 2015 ICC World Cup, where India reached the semi-final stage before losing out to eventual champions Australia, it was pretty clear as daylight that Shastri was running the affairs.

While Fletcher was let go off, Shastri and the others maintained their roles with the team until the 2016 ICC World T20 – a period which saw more highs than lows, including India’s trouncing of South Africa in the home Test series and a memorable run in the T20s, especially wins against Australia and the Asia Cup victory. The BCCI appreciated the good job done by Shastri and the team in a welcome gesture after naming Anil Kumble as the team’s new head coach.

"The Board recognises the contribution of Team Director Ravi Shastri under whom India marched to the semi-finals in the ICC World Cup held in Australia and the ICC World T20 India 2016.

"With him as Team Director, India won the Test series in Sri Lanka after a gap of 22 years and also outplayed South Africa 3-0 in a four-Test home series before clinching the Asia Cup," the BCCI said.

It was no secret that Shastri desperately wanted to continue his association with the India side, but unfortunately for the eminent cricket commentator, the Cricket Advisory Committee appointed by the BCCI comprising of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman chose Kumble over Shastri and it will be now up to the legendary leg-spinner to carry India forward as it aims to become the best side across all formats, as stated by the BCCI president, Anurag Thakur.