Ravi Shastri not yet appointed Team India head coach; suspense continues

BCCI stand-in secretary clarifies that there has been no decision on the next coach yet

This report has been updated to incorporate a clarification by the BCCI. Within hours of the news that former India all-rounder Ravi Shastri, now a commentator, had been appointed the head coach of the Indian cricket team until the 2019 World Cup, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) clarified that it was yet to take a final call. 

It was earlier reported that Shastri, who earlier served as the team director, would succeed Anil Kumble as the head coach, and that Shastri's first assignment with the team would be the upcoming Sri Lanka tour, where the first Test starts on July 26.

The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), comprising former cricketers Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, had on Monday interviewed six candidates for the post — Virender Sehwag, Tom Moody, Richard Pybus, Phil Simmons and Lalchand Rajput and Shastri.

Among the candidates, Shastri, Sehwag and Moody were seen as the frontrunners when the advisory committee met in Mumbai to select the new coach.

Kumble's one-year tenure as the head coach had come to a controversial end when he resigned following alleged differences with skipper Virat Kohli. In a statement hours after tendering his resignation, Kumble had said he was told by the Indian board that Kohli was not satisfied with his 'style of coaching'.

Many thought Shastri had last year been overlooked when the CAC went ahead with Kumble for a one-year term, even  as Shastri was seen as the favourite to replace Duncan Fletcher until Kumble threw his hat in the ring.

Last year, Shastri had said he had been disappointed after missing out on the coaching job because the team had done "wonderfully well" under him.

As team director from 2014 to 2016, Shastri had a good run as India won an ODI series against England, reached the semi-finals of the 2015 World Cup and 2016 World T20, won a T20I series in Australia and clinched the Asia Cup.

With inputs from Agencies