I Am Disappointed With The CAC, Says Erapalli Prasanna

Former India spinner Erapalli Prasanna has expressed his disappointment over the way the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) delayed the decision to name the new Team India head coach.

Five candidates- Tom Moody, Virender Sehwag, Ravi Shastri, Richard Pybus and Lalchand Rajput were interviewed by the CAC comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, on Monday (July 10). And while speculations were rife that the three-member panel would announce the new coach on the same day, it deferred the decision to an unconfirmed date, citing their willingness to take captain Virat Kohli’s inputs before taking the final call.

However, after the Committee of Administrators instructed the BCCI not to delay the process, the CAC revealed their pick on Tuesday (July 11), with Ravi Shastri getting the top job.

All the drama, meanwhile, has miffed Prasanna who feels that the CAC should have acted more maturely.

“I am disappointed with the CAC. They are three legendary cricketers and they should not 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.

The former international further said that the CAC should have been more precise while explaining the roles of Rahul Dravid and Zaheer Khan who have been named the batting and bowling consultants respectively. Not only that, he also said that with CAC picking the widely touted favourite Shastri as Anil Kumble’s replacement, the board could have done it itself.

“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,” he said, adding: “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 concluded by saying that the captain of the team will always be the main man in the dressing room.

“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,” concluded the spin legend.