Sunil Gavaskar feels Ravi Shastri is likely to get India coach job

What’s the story?

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has expressed that Ravi Shastri is the best-suited man for the post of the head coach of the Indian cricket team, which has been lying vacant since Anil Kumble’s resignation last month.

Hailing Shastri has the man responsible for the team’s turnaround after the Test series defeat to England in 2014, Gavaskar opined that the former director of the team is the front-runner for the job.

“Ravi (Shastri) actually was the one where the turnaround actually started for the Indian cricket team back in 2014. After India lost in England, the BCCI asked him to come in as a team director… suddenly there was a change in the team’s fortunes over a period of time. Now that he’s applied, he’s probably the man who is going to get the job,” Gavaskar told NDTV.

Referring to the former all-rounder as the most experienced of those who have applied for the role, Gavaskar urged the Cricket Advisory Committee – tasked with picking the next head coach – to fall back to someone who has already managed the team.

“There’s (Virender) Sehwag, (Tom) Moody who has done a wonderful job with the Sunrisers Hyderabad (in the Indian Premier League)… Yes, there are candidates who are around but Ravi has the experience. Ravi has been with the team before, he seems comfortable with the team.

“I would imagine the CAC would go back to a person the team feels comfortable with and give him the job,” he added.

In case you didn’t know...

Since Anil Kumble’s resignation from the post, several names have floated up as the ones contending for one of the most high-profile management jobs in cricket, ranging from Virender Sehwag to Phil Simmons – the former West Indies coach who applied yesterday.

The BCCI have set July 9 as the deadline for the submission of applications for the post and are likely to name the next coach on July 10. Amongst the who’s who of cricket, Tom Moody, Richard Pybus, Dodda Ganesh, and Lalchand Rajput have also applied for the role.

Anil Kumble decided not to renew his contract as the coach of the side and didn’t apply for the post either

Details

Post the Test series in England, in 2014, Shastri was appointed as the director of the team and had a fairly successful stint until his contract expired at the end of the ICC World T20 2016.

The Indian side won an ODI series in England, beat Sri Lanka 5-0 at home in October-November, and lost 2-0 to Australia in Tests during the 2014-15 tour to Australia. The team qualified for the semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 thereafter, which was significant, especially after not having won a single game on the tour.

The successful World Cup campaign was followed by an unexpected 2-1 loss to Bangladesh in a three-match away ODI series, a 1-0 loss to South Africa in the T20 leg of South Africa’s 2015 tour to India, and a 3-2 loss in ODIs. The limited-overs failures were followed by Test success, as India defeated the Proteas 3-0 in the four-match Test series.

The mixed bag at home was followed by another mixed bag in Australia in 2016, wherein India lost the five-match ODI series 4-1 but bounced back to win the three-match T20I series 3-0.

The T20I success brought the much-needed momentum for the upcoming Asia Cup T20 2016 with India emerging as the champions, beating the hosts Bangladesh in the final. A 2-1 T20I series win over Sri Lanka at home and a semi-final appearance in the World T20 2016 capped off Shastri’s tenure.

What’s next?

With Gavaskar’s backing and his own repertoire as a fairly successful team director, Shastri makes a strong case for the role and might really be a top contender.

His fallout with Sourav Ganguly, a CAC member, after last year’s coach recruitment process is now a thing of the past as the two former captains were seen sharing the screen on several occasions post that controversy.

Author’s take

There were reports floating around in media that said Shastri wanted to apply only if guaranteed the position as a reward. While the veracity of such a whim cannot be ascertained, now that the cricket commentator has applied, he is for sure a front-runner for the post along with Sehwag.

Shastri’s perceived closeness to the captain Virat Kohli, and the rapport that he had built with the team during his previous stint, all contribute to the CV that he is likely to present to the CAC - a panel that has Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, apart from Ganguly.

If selected, it would be a case of the CAC falling back on a tried and tested option, much in confirmation with Gavaskar's opinion, and the fresh applications invited for the post could be seen as a way to bring back Shastri.

That wouldn't be unfair though, given that it is still uncertain as to why was Shastri removed from his position in the first place.