The appointment of Zaheer Khan as the bowling coach which was later clarified as a consultant by the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) has led to a major controversy. India's new coach Ravi Shastri wants Bharat Arun while the CAC, and especially one of its members Sourav Ganguly, is keen on Zaheer.
With the recent controversy regarding the India bowling coach bagging limelight, it has been learnt that Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli along with other members of the team will have a say on the support staff.
If this is the case, one does not need a rocket scientist to understand that Ravi and Kohli will join hands to get Arun as the bowling coach. India captain Kohli was the one who wanted Shastri as the coach. Kohli even wanted him last time around and was vocal before the CAC picked Anil Kumble over the former Team Director in 2016.
With Kohli having got what he wanted, the skipper will be keen to provide him with the resources in the support staff, meaning it is Arun, who will once again be an integral part of Team India until the next World Cup.
There seems to be some logic for wanting Arun, who also worked with Team India when Ravi was the Team Director, as the coach as well.
Zaheer may not be available for most of the year while Arun will be there with the team for all the series and tours. One also has to remember that Ravi is not completely against Zaheer, and the former India pacer may still be an important member of the backing staff, as a consultant.
"Given the situation, it does look like Shastri's wish to have Bharat Arun as a full-time bowling coach will be accepted. And the way the contract is likely to shape, it will be difficult for Zaheer to accept the role of a consultant on a tour-to-tour basis," The Times of India quoted a BCCI official as saying.
The recent controversy has also not gone down well with the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators, who felt that the CAC had gone beyond their 'brief' while appointing coaches. But the CAC informed the COA that the decision to appoint the likes of Rahul Dravid and Zaheer as support staff was taking into consideration after consulting Shastri and Kohli.
Is Sourav Ganguly the biggest loser in the entire episode?
It is no secret, Ravi and Sourav have become two bitter rivals, and there seems to be a personal battle between the two. It has to be mentioned here that Sourav strongly rejected Shastri as India coach in 2016, and nothing had changed this time around as well, but Sachin Tendulkar spoke to the Bengal administrator and convinced him to appoint Shastri.
So that was round one to Ravi.
However, Sourav got in Zaheer, who was definitely his man for the bowling coach. But as things look now, Arun, who was always wanted by Shastri for the post, is top favourite for the job.
This will not go well with Sourav. Despite being a major voice in the CAC, he could not get those, who he really wanted for the job. In all this, Ravi has emerged as the real winner so far.
