Prasanna 'disappointed' with CAC's drama on Shastri's selection

Former India off-spinner Erapalli Prasanna on Thursday said he is "disappointed" with the three-member Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) -- comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and V.V.S. Laxman -- for dilly-dallying over choosing the national cricket team's new coach.

On Tuesday, news broke first that Ravi Shastri has been named the India coach but moments later Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Acting Secretary Amitabh Choudhary denied the same. Later that day, Shastri was officially announced as the coach along with Zaheer Khan as bowling consultant and Rahul Dravid as overseas batting coach.

Miffed with the actions of the CAC, Prasanna said there was no need of theatrics and the trio could have directly named Shastri, as he was the obvious choice.

"There was no need for such drama. Shastri was always going to be the choice," Prasanna told IANS over phone.

"I am disappointed with the CAC. They are three legendary cricketers and they should have taken so long to name the coach. A consensus should have been reached, and from what I have been reading, they could not come to a unanimous decision and it was all done at the last minute," said Prasanna, who was part of the famed spin quartet also involving Srinivas Venkataraghavan, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Bishen Singh Bedi.

On Monday, Ganguly had said that they need time to name the coach after interviewing the candidates including Shastri, adding that they would also like to talk to skipper Virat Kohli.

Ganguly had even said Kohli "needs to understand how coaches also operate".

Prasanna, 77, felt that the CAC should have defined the roles of the new additions to the coaching staff more accurately, adding that Shastri is just a team manager and that "coach" is just a name.

"His job will be team management. Coach is just a word. It is just a position in the team. In my opinion, there is no need for a coach," the former spin great said.

"The CAC should have defined roles of Zaheer and Dravid better. I don't know whether Sanjay Bangar will still remain the batting coach or not. The job they did, at the end, BCCI could have done the same. Why need a CAC then?"

Prasanna signed off by hinting that the skipper has the right to have a say in selecting the coach as it is he who is accountable for the team's results.

"The captain is responsible for how the game is played. He is accountable. On the field, he calls the shots so he has some say," Prasanna said.

--IANS

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