Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Bangar is reportedly going to be replaced as the batting coach whereas Ravi Shastri is almost confirmed to stay as the head coach of Team India. According to The Times of India, Shastri is once again the first choice of the team as also stated by Virat Kohli.
"In 2017, he was the team's first choice. In 2019, he's once again the team's first choice. Virat didn't even mince words when asked about this the other day," the source told TOI.
Along with Shastri, bowling coach Bharat Arun is also likely to be retained as during his tenure the Indian bowling unit has been performing well and has become a formidable force in both Tests and ODIs.
But India crashed out of the semi-finals in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 due to the failure of the batting order. Since then Sanjay Bangar has been blamed for the batting failure and is likely to get sacked. A source from the Board told TOI that the former Indian all-rounder was responsible for Mahendra Singh Dhoni's coming late to bat against New Zealand. If Dhoni had come out to bat earlier the result would have been different.
Bangar, who has been associated with the Indian team since 2014, has done a lot of work to fix the Indian batting order but in recent times he has been held responsible for the middle-order collapse. A source told TOI that while Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been performing well already, Bangar failed to create solid options for the middle-order. The source further mentioned that BCCI is looking for a suitable profile for the batting coach and Bangar is not likely to continue.
"Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been performing much before Bangar came into the fray. He has no role in their success. However, his job was to create a few solid options in the middle order & we have seen in the World Cup that he has failed miserably in that," a source told TOI.
"The board is likely to revisit the position of batting coach and look for a suitable profile. It's a little early to say how that will work out but unlikely that Sanjay Bangar will continue. There's a need to get someone with fresher ideas going forward," the source further added.
The coaching unit has been given an extension till the end of India's West Indies tour. It will be interesting to see what changes are made in the coaching team of the Men in Blue.
