INDIA'S COACHING STAFF

Bharat Arun appointed India bowling coach

by Cricbuzz Staff • Last updated on

Bharat Arun will serve as the bowling coach of the India team until the end of the 2019 World Cup © Getty

The three-member committee formed by the Committee of Administrators (CoA) has decided to retain the services of Sanjay Bangar and fielding coach R Sridhar while appointing Bharat Arun as the bowling coach of the Indian senior men's team. In addition to serving as batting coach, Bangar will also serve as Ravi Shastri's deputy.

The committee met India's new head coach Shastri in Mumbai today (July 18) and made the announcements. The appointments were made by CoA chairman Vinod Rai who acted on the recommendations of BCCI's acting president CK Khanna, acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary and CoA member Diana Edulji.

The contracts for all these appointments begin from today and are effective until the end of the 2019 World Cup. In addition to these appointments Patrick Farhart will continue as the physio of the team and Shankar Basu the trainer.

Also, Rahul Dravid and Zaheer's Khan appointments will depend on their talks with the authorities (Amitabh Choudhary and Rahul Johri).

Speaking about Dravid and Zaheer, Shastri did not see any issues and felt they will be on board once they speak with the authorities. "I've spoken to both, as recent as three to four days ago and they are two fantastic cricketers of India. Their inputs will be invaluable. They will be on board once they have spoken to the authorities concerned," said Shastri.

When asked whether Dravid and Zaheer's contracts will involve a fixed number of days, Shastri said, "That they will speak. It all depends on the individuals, how many number of days they want to give. But their inputs will be invaluable and they're most welcome. And I've spoken to both gentlemen personally."

Shastri said that he was very clear in his mind what his core team should be and in his words - "what you've just heard is my core team."

Acting BCCI secretary Amitabh Choudhary didn't think all the confusion surrounding Dravid and Zaheer's appointments was a matter to be concerned with. "In the first place, I'm absolutely clear in my view that it was not a fiasco. As Ravi [Shastri] explained, once he was announced he obviously had to think of his responsibilities that come with that appointment. And as he's made so abundantly clear that he wanted his core team. The other two gentlemen he's spoken to, they will be consultants and their contributions are going to be invaluable."

While the pair of Sanjay Bangar and R Sridhar were retained, along with Patrick Farhart and Shankar Basu, the decision to appoint Bharat Arun as the bowling coach was taken on the recommendation of Ravi Shastri. Bharat Arun and Shastri share a good rapport having worked together when the latter was India team director. Also Arun and Shastri were Under-19 and India team-mates in their playing days.

The committee came into being in the wake of uncertainty surrounding the appointments of Dravid and Zaheer as overseas Test batting and overall bowling consultants. The CoA was not happy that the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) which has Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, picked the duo without their approval.

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