Zaheer Khan contracted for 150 days a year, says Sourav Ganguly

What’s the story?

Former India pacer Zaheer Khan, who was appointed as a bowling consultant for Team India, will be contracted for around five months in a year, according to Cricket Advisory Committee member Sourav Ganguly.

Speaking to reporters at the Eden Gardens, Ganguly said: "Zaheer was contracted for 150 days per year".

In case you didn’t know…

Along with Ravi Shastri, who was named head coach, the BCCI announced that Rahul Dravid and Zaheer Khan would be consultants for the national side. While Dravid will be India’s batting consultant, in addition to being the India-A and U-19 coach, Zaheer will man the bowling consultant duties.

The heart of the matter

There was confusion regarding Zaheer’s role for the Indian team: while the original BCCI statement said that he was the ‘bowling coach’, a subsequent clarification was made which stated that he was a ‘consultant’, just like Dravid.

There were reports that the 38-year-old did not want to commit to more than 100 days, but CAC’s insistence ensured that his contract did read 150 days.

Along with Zaheer, Shastri is also pushing for Bharat Arun as a bowling coach in the side, with reports emerging that he was not entirely happy with the selection of consultants. The CAC sent a letter to the CoA, expressing their disappointment by saying that the selections were made after informing Shastri and Virat Kohli.

What’s next?

Shastri’s tenure will begin with India’s tour of Sri Lanka that commences with the first Test at Galle on July 26. Dravid won’t be travelling with the team, as he has prior commitments with the India-A side on their South Africa tour. There is no clarity about Zaheer’s role for the Lanka tour.

Author’s take

Confusion has engulfed yet another BCCI appointment, before the tenure has even kicked off. Ravi Shastri was quick to state that Dravid and Zaheer were mere consultants, and he would decide if they were needed on a full-time basis. The change of Zaheer’ s designation from bowling coach to consultant also reeks of possible conflict between Shastri and the BCCI.

Bharat Arun’s name has started to do the rounds: if the head coach’s say holds so much weight, the CoA shouldn’t have named Zaheer in the first place. It remains to be seen if Shastri gets his way with the BCCI in the future in this regard.