Ravi Shastri as team director: BCCI revels in ad-hocism

Actually, the BCCI at the moment is revelling in ad-hocism – from its day-to-day functioning to Rajasthan cricket. With its president almost non-functional, decision-making is severely impaired. The cricket board said it consulted its cricket advisory committee comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman before extending Shastri’s contract. When? The high-profile committee was set up in May and it had its first meeting in June. The members haven’t met since.

Coaching is not about short-term results. It’s a process with an eye on long-term development of the players. The role of a team director is basically restricted to mentoring. He doesn’t do the hands-on job, which allows little scope to assess his contribution; if the cricketers indeed have improved under his tutelage. The Indian team management is trying to give an impression that the whole unit is rocking in the Shastri-(Virat) Kohli association. Aggression has become the name of the game and it even prompted the skipper to defend Ishant Sharma’s deplorable antics during the third Test in Sri Lanka.

“An angry fast bowler is a captain’s delight,” Kohli had said. Kohli is young and new to the job. He needs a calming influence in the dressing-room to complement the hyperbole; someone like India ‘A’ and Under-19 coach Rahul Dravid, who is going through the apprenticeship period as far as coaching is concerned and should take charge of the Indian team in due course.

Shastri and Kohli, however, have developed a strong partnership, both on and off the field. Recently they’ve tied up for the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) with the India Test captain being the co-owner of UAE Royals and Shastri an advisor. Sounds ludicrous! Apologies for drawing a football analogy, but can you expect Louis van Gaal to mentor the Holland cricket team while working as the Manchester United manager! The BCCI is completely silent on the potential conflict of interest issue.

India would be playing all their matches at home for the next two seasons, so the probability of success is very high. It won’t be a surprise if Shastri gets a contract extension till the next World Cup.