Committee of Administrators (CoA), which oversees the operation of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has expressed its disappointment over India's batting woes in the ongoing five-Test series in England to head coach Ravi Shastri.
The CoA has already communicated its viewpoint to coach Shastri and the head coach is likely to face questions from the Supreme Court-appointed committee, according to The Indian Express.
The two-member committee is also keen on talking to the senior national team selectors, headed by former India wicketkeeper MSK Prasad, about the some of the selection procedures.
The BCCI and the CoA are reportedly unhappy with the team's performance despite having had enough time to prepare for the Test rubber.
Unlike the overseas tours in the past, Virat Kohli & Co. had an opportunity to get acclimated to the English conditions as they had played a T20I and an ODI series in the lead up to the five-Test series.
However, the performance has been anything but better than the previous tours, considering the way in which the Indian batsmen have struggled against the English attack.
Barring captain Kohli, none of the top-order batsmen have found ways to survive, let alone score runs in the first two Tests. Vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane is struggling for form, while openers Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, and KL Rahul have been woeful at the top.
"The CoA has already mentioned this to Ravi Shastri, that after having sent the team so much in advance, allowing adequate preparation time (in English conditions), this kind of performance from the top order is not encouraging at all," a senior BCCI official was quoted as saying by the news daily.
"The Committee has also mentioned in its communication that they need to discuss this with the head coach.
"When the team returns, the CoA will have a meeting with the selectors at the first opportunity to discuss some of the procedures."
Batsmen fail despite having reached the UK early
Kohli had openly expressed his concern at the lack of preparation time for South Africa series earlier this year. Notably, Team India finished a limited-over series against Sri Lanka on December 24 and had to fly out of the country for the overseas tour in the Rainbow Nation four days later.
The CoA took notice of the situation and insisted that the board "can't be killing the golden goose for the sake of revenue".
India had India started their tour of the UK as early as June 27 with a two-match T20I series in Ireland. Three T20Is and ODIs followed and the touring team even had the opportunity to play a four-day warm-up match against Essex from July 25.
However, Kohli & Co. didn't want to play a four-day match and forced the county cricket side to cut a day's play.
Shastri defended the team's decision, saying an extra day training at the venue of the first Test (Edgbaston) would be more helpful than another day's play of the only warm-up tie in Chelmsford.
Batting, fielding coach's performances are being evaluated
Meanwhile, batting coach Sanjay Bangar and fielding coach R Sridhar's performance are also being evaluated, according to the Press Trust of India.
Both Sridhar and Bangar have been part of the Indian team management for quite some time now but the batting and slip-catching woes have continued to remain.
Since Sridhar took over, India have dropped 50 catches in the slip cordon. Kohli & Co. dropped a few crucial catches in the first Test, especially in the second innings when they were dominating the match.
