Ravi Shastri keen on making Sachin Tendulkar as Team India consultant

New Delhi, July 19: India head coach Ravi Shastri succeeded in convincing the BCCI to appoint his man Bharat Arun as the bowling coach while Sanjay Bangar was elevated to assistant coach.

Bharat Arun appointed India's bowling coach

The 55-year-old former India all-rounder has finally got what he wanted. Shastri has got the core team demanded from the board after the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) picked him as the successor to Anil Kumble.

However, the BCCI's suspence over Rahul Dravid and Zaheer Khan, who were earlier appointed as the batting and bowling consultants for specific overseas tours, hasn't gone well with the fans.

The BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary said that they haven't yet arrived at any decision on the duo.

Shastri expressed the desire to have Tendulkar on board during Tuesday's meeting with the BCCI special committee comprising acting president CK Khanna, CEO Rahul Johri, acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary and Committee Of Administrators member Diana Edulji.

It must be noted that it was Tendulkar who persuaded Shastri to apply for India coach's job. Tendulkar was also the part of the three-member CAC which recommended Shastri as the new coach.

The special committee made it clear that any role with the national team, be it full-time or as a consultant, has to be clear of conflict of interest.

"Ravi put forward the idea of having Sachin on board as a consultant for a very short period. But the committee promptly reminded him about the conflict of interest clause," a member of the committee, who did not wish to be identified as the information is not meant to be public, told PTI.

If Tendulkar does accept the role, it would mean that he would have to let go of his various other commitments including the IPL.

"And expecting someone to be around for an extremely short period and leave his other professional commitments is asking for a bit too much," said the member.

Similar is the case with Zaheer, who wants be around with the team for about 25 days in a year and continue with his other engagements including the IPL.

"I doubt for 25 days in a year, you would want to forgo all your other commitments," reckoned the member.

Tendulkar has made most international appearances for the country in ODIs as well as Tests and his vast experience and cricketing brain could be a reason why Shastri floated his name.

As per the Indian Express report, "The decision on consultants has gone on the back burner with BCCI providing no clarity about their (Zaheer and Dravid) roles. Not keen to crowd the dressing room with too many former players, the BCCI, it is learnt, may use their services only during home series and is unlikely to include them in the team management on away tours."

OneIndia News

(With inputs from PTI)