Shastri, Kohli to be asked tough questions by BCCI

Bengaluru, July 11: Ravi Shastri, the head coach of Indian team, skipper Virat Kohli, and other existing support and coaching staff will have tough time upon their return to India as the BCCI is expected to grill them for explanation of their semifinal exit from the ICC World Cup 2019 with a defeat to New Zealand at Old Trafford here on Wednesday (July 10).

Two members of the staff physio Patrick Farhart and fitness coach Shankar Basu had resigned from their posts after the semifinal exit.

But it will be interesting to see how the Shastri explains the semifinal defeat against New Zealand and the failure to find a middle-order that would have been good enough to stand up and get counted on a day when skipper Virat Kohli and his deputy Rohit Sharma failed in unison.

Apart from the trio of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and K.L. Rahul, none of the other batsmen looked good enough even as the team management kept avoiding the obvious. To think that the middle-order consisted of two batsmen who weren't even first-choice players when the original team was announced shows that there are questions staring at the likes of Shastri and Co.

While Rishabh Pant was flown in only after Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out with a thumb injury, Dinesh Karthik was said to be a cover for MS Dhoni. Chief selector MSK. Prasad had said Karthik was in fact picked over Pant as the second wicketkeeper because he would be needed only if Dhoni got injured. But both were part of the playing XI against New Zealand. Both floundered on the big stage and interestingly, one of the better middle-order batsmen in the set-up - Ambati Rayudu - announced retirement from the cricket after being overlooked for the showpiece event.

All these points will come up for discussion once the BCCI bigwigs meet Shastri, Kohli and others.