Anurag Thakur lauds BCCI move to appoint Shastri as Indian team director

The joint secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Anurag Thakur, said on Tuesday that the Indian cricket team's morale will get a major boost with the appointment of former player Ravi Shastri as team director for the India-England ODI series.

In light of the recent 3-1 thrashing of India by England in the five match Test series, the BCCI cracked its whip and sidelined Duncan Fletcher to appoint former Indian skipper Shastri as the director of Team India.

The BCCI also relieved bowling coach Joe Dawes and fielding coach Trevor Penney off their duties for the one-day series and appointed Sanjay Bangar, former Indian all-rounder, and former India fast bowler Bharat Arun as assistant coaches of the team.

While lauding the decision of the BCCI, Thakur said he was glad that the board had appointed Shastri as the director of the Indian cricket team, adding that this would boost the morale of the players currently on tour.

Thakur described the performance of the Indian cricket team in the just concluded Test series as very disappointing, and admitted that he had put forward a demand to the BCCI to take corrective action on Monday.

He said that the Indian team's poor performance has resulted in questions being asked about the coaching staff and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, but added that the final call on replacements should be left to the national selectors.

He said that the ultimate objective of the BCCI should be to deliver the best Indian team for all formats.