Former Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid | Photo Credit: AP

New Delhi: Amid the heavy criticism of the players and the captain following India's dismal 60-run defeat to England last week at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton, questions have raised over the role of head coach Ravi Shastri along with his support staff. And now, in a recent interview, former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly revealed that while the Cricket Advisory Committee of BCCI had appointed Rahul Dravid as a batting consultant for India, the former cricketer had opted out of the job following his meeting with Shastri.

A year ago, Shastri was announced as the head coach of India amid massive controversy behind the resignation of his former, Anil Kumble. And the CAC comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Ganguly and VVS Laxman had announced the name of Dravid as the batting consultant for overseas tours only, while Zaheer Khan as the bowling coach. However, later, Sanjay Bangar and Bharat Arun were announced as batting and bowling coach, respectively.

ALSO READ: Ravi Shastri should be held accountable for India's Test series defeat in England: Sourav Ganguly

Dravid had later opted out of the consultant job following his meeting with Shastri despite agreeing upon it and Ganguly still remains unware of what had happened in the meeting. He also revealed that the Supreme Court-appointed CAC added confusion to the entire selection process of an Indian coach.

“Rahul Dravid had been asked to become a batting consultant and he had even agreed. But then he spoke to Ravi and I don’t know what happened after that. The Committee of Administrators also had added to the confusion with the coach selection and we were tired and just got out of it. So it’s difficult for me to say why Rahul Dravid did not become the batting consultant. But if Ravi Shastri was given the responsibility, after consulting Virat Kohli, then he has to fulfil that responsibility and improve the team,” Ganguly said.

However, CoA chief Vinod Rai had later revealed that they were left unaware of such appointments and that CAC's job was only to appoint a head coach.

TRENDING NOW: Harbhajan Singh questions Team India selection for Asia Cup 2018, asks 'where is Mayank Aggarwal?'

“Anil Kumble had a one-year contract. It had no renewal or extension clause. When the CoA took over, we got to know a month later that his contract was expiring and we followed the protocol that was followed during his appointment. The idea was to select the head coach by the CAC — comprising of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman. Transparency requires you to follow a process and the due process throws up a result.

“The CAC was the entrusted body and they did what they felt was best. It wasn’t an unceremonious exit as his contract was only for a year. We made no statements on Zaheer Khan or Rahul Dravid’s appointments. Our job was to select the head coach through the due process,” he clarified.