The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) played it safe by retaining Ravi Shastri as the head coach of the national team. One has to say that it was a sensible call since Indian captain Virat Kohli had made it clear that he wanted Shastri to continue.
The CAC comprising Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad and Shantha Rangaswamy decided to go for Shastri and it has not come as a surprise. Picking anyone other than Shastri would have upset Kohli, especially considering the bitter memories of his fallout with former coach Anil Kumble.
At the same time Shastri can consider himself extremely lucky to have got another term. Agreed, the Indian team has done quite well under the Kohli-Shastri combo in the last couple of years. But it has a lot to do with the quality of the players than the tactical acumen of the duo. In stark contrast, Shastri and Kohli have been guilty of picking the wrong eleven on numerous occasions. This resulted in India missing golden chances to win Test series in South Africa and England besides falling in the semifinals of the recent ICC World Cup. It was shocking to hear Shastri ruing the absence of a solid No. 4 batsman after New Zealand stunned India in the semifinals. The Indian think tank failed miserably in grooming a proper No. 4 for the showpiece event in the UK.
Big challenges
Well, Shastri has got another term to redeem himself. Three big assignments over the next couple of years will define his legacy as India coach. The two away series against New Zealand and Australia next year as part of the ICC World Test Championship and the ICC T20 World Cup in 2020 and 2021 will prove how good Team India is.
Shastri and Kohli were quick to laud India's Test series win over a depleted Australian team Down Under early this year as a historic triumph. But the real challenge for India is to do an encore against a much stronger Australian outfit. Also the Men in Blue failed to get past the semifinals of the last two editions of the ICC World Cup and the 2016 ICC World T20. The ICC T20 World Cup in Australia next October and the next edition at home the following year offer them a chance to better that record.
The present Indian team is likely to win most of the home Tests as well as bilateral One-Day International and T20 International series. The big question is how the Indians will fare in alien conditions against quality opponents in Test cricket and whether they can end the long wait for a world title in the shortest format of the game.
Shastri has to support Kohli on the tactical front and unlike the first term, the two have to be flexible in their strategies or else there will be more heartbreaks and disappointments in store for the Indian fans.
