Rahul Dravid and Zaheer Khan's Role Not Confirmed Yet, Says Vinod Rai

The drama surrounding India’s coaching staff took another turn on Saturday (July 15) with Committee of Administrators (CoA) head Vinod Rai stating that Rahul Dravid and Zaheer Khan‘s roles as batting and bowling consultants for overseas tour is not confirmed yet as they were only recommendations made by the Cricket Advisory Committee.

Earlier this week, Ravi Shastri was appointed the head coach and the board also roped in Dravid and Zaheer as the support staff. However, the move has reportedly not gone down too well with Shastri who wants his own support staff. Rai said the other coaches would be appointed only on Shastri’s recommendations who is currently out of the country.

“We have taken the board on the recommendations of the CAC for Mr. Ravi Shastri as the head coach. And we have decided that for further coaches and others, we must have a discussion with Mr. Ravi Shastri. We have discussed with him, he is away. He comes back tomorrow or day after,” Rai was quoted as saying by ANI.

“We have set up a committee of Diana Edulji, Acting Secretary Amitabh Choudhary, acting president of the board CK Khanna and CEO Rahul Johri as a convener, who will speak to them and Ravi Shastri and make the selection of the other coaches,” he added.

The BCCI, in its press release, had clearly stated that Zaheer and Dravid would ply their trade as consultants for the team but Rai made it clear that those were just recommendations and a contact has not been put on the table yet.

“There’s no such thing as a contract as yet. These are just recommendations. A recommendation has been made and the CoA has to act on that. That recommendation will be acted upon in consultation with the head coach,” he said.

With reports suggesting that Shastri was unhappy with the appointment of Zaheer and Dravid, the BCCI had later made it clear that the former players were roped in only after consulting Shastri.

“The recommendation for Ravi Shastri was made on the merit of his presentation and the vision that he projected for taking the team to greater heights. After taking the decision on his selection, the CAC consulted him and decided on having Batting and Bowling consultants on overseas tour-to-tour basis, as per the requirement of the team,” the BCCI had said in a release.