BCCI may cut the powers of Virat Kohli, Ravi Shastri

Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli may face the BCCI wrath

Bengaluru, August 14: India's innings and 159-run defeat to England in the second Test at Lord's has sent shock waves across the cricketing fraternity and the Board of Control for Cricket in India is all set to question skipper Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri during a fact finding session.

Reports suggested that the BCCI, in consultation with the CoA, may curb the powers of Kohli and Shastri. The following are some of the questions and points that will be posed to the skipper-coach combine and this in all likelihood will happen ahead of the third Test against England at Trentbridge.

1. No other Indian batsman except Kohli has gone past 50 in four innings.

2. This despite altering the structure of the tour to accommodate limited versions ahead of the Tests. It was argued by Shastri and Kohli that such a step will help the players acclimatise ahead of the Test series

3. India have dropped around 50 catches since R Sridhar has taken over as fielding coach. His and the role of batting coach Sanjay Bangar will come under scrutiny.

4. The need of a touring selector will be discussed, and this step to avoid Kohli and Shastri having unhindered say in the team selection process. The BCCI honchos feel that having an independent opinion could benefit while picking up the team.

What a knock by the Baaaaas @klrahul11 💪😎 pic.twitter.com/KDOoZh4ZGB
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) July 4, 2018

India had started the current England tour with the white ball version, a deviation from the norm of limited overs matches following the Test series. In fact, India had begun the tour on a good note winning the T20I series 2-1 but England led by Eoin Morgan handed India a defeat in the ODIs in a similar margin. And the Test series so far has gone haywire with none of the batsmen except Kohli were able to make an impression.

As a result, India are now down 0-2 in the Test series and only one team has managed to reverse that and win the series from thereafter - Don Bradman's Australia in 1936-37. In such a scenario, the BCCI wants to take quick control of the situation. But captaincy of Kohli is under no immediate threat while Shastri has his contract running till the 2019 World Cup in England.