Ravi Shastri is no longer the team director after his contract ended following India's exit in the semifinals of the ICC World T20 2016. The BCCI will now have to decide on who will take over as the new coach of the India cricket team, with Shastri also in the running to continue at the helm.
Ideally, Shastri would have liked to have ended his successful tenure as the team director by leading India to the World T20 title, but after those no-balls rendered that impossible, it will be interesting to see if the former all-rounder put his hands up to continue in the role.
"Ravi Shastri's contract has ended," BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur was quoted as saying by PTI. "We are looking at a full-time coach and the decision will be taken by the Cricket Advisory Committee.
"There won't be a team director and a full-time coach. It will be only one post and even Ravi's contract can come up for renewal."
The Cricket Advisory Committee consists of India batting legends Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman. The trio will now meet before and/or during IPL 2016 to decide on the course that India should take in the future as far as the coaching position is concerned.
"The meeting of the CAC is expected to happen post April 3 (the World T20 final between England and West Indies)," Thakur added. "It can happen before the start of the IPL also. We will have to decide on the date."
Several candidates have come up for discussion, including Michael Hussey, who revealed he had been approached by Laxman, and Rahul Dravid, the current India junior team coach. However, it might not be such a bad idea to stick with Shastri, provided the former player is open to continuing his role.
Shastri brought a lot of positivity and good vibes back into the India team, leading the side to Test series victories over Sri Lanka and South Africa as well as two semifinal appearances in the last two major ICC tournaments. With a few more important Test series' coming up and then the ICC Champions Trophy, it might not be such a bad idea to go for stability and appoint Shastri and his team of assistant coaches on a permanent basis.
MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, the limited-overs and Test captains, are also big fans of what Shastri brings to the table, and in the end, when Tendulkar, Ganguly and Laxman decide on the candidate, the two India captains' opinions will be taken into board as well.
