Ravi Shastri was consulted before appointing Dravid, Zaheer as consultants: BCCI

The Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI) clarified on Thursday stating that head coach Ravi Shastri was consulted before appointing Zaheer Khan and Rahul Dravid as Bowling and Batting consultants respectively.

"The recommendation for Ravi Shastri was made on the merit of his presentation and the vision that he projected for taking the team to greater heights. After taking the decision on his selection, the CAC consulted him and decided on having Batting and Bowling consultants on overseas tour-to-tour basis, as per the requirement of the team," the BCCI said in a release.

The Indian cricket board also praised Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, the three members of the Cricket Advisory Committee, for executing their task with total transparency, professionalism and commitment to Indian cricket.

"The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) expresses its sincere gratitude to the members of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) who most willingly agreed to undertake the process of selection of the Head Coach of the Indian Cricket Team," it said.

"The BCCI wishes to thank the CAC for the selfless pro bono service rendered to assist the Board in the selection process of India Cricket Team's Head Coach," it added.

On July 1, Ravi Shastri was appointed as the head coach of the Indian cricket team.

However, Zaheer Khan was earlier said to be appointed as the bowling coach of the Indian cricket team.

The team already has a full-time batting coach in Sanjay Bangar besides appointing Dravid as a batting consultant for overseas.