BCCI's Cricket Advisory Committee used a five-parameter rating system while picking Ravi Shastri. Tough questions were asked of Shastri, including why India could not win a few tough series or any world tournaments under his watch.

[TNAmarkFromIndia]

After interviewing five candidates on Friday and rating them on five different parameters - coaching philosophy, experience, achievements, communication, and knowledge of modern coaching tools - the BCCI's Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) chose to continue with Ravi Shastri as India head coach. Mike Hesson and Tom Moody finished second and third based on these ratings, CAC head Kapil Dev said.

Here is a break-down of the process that led to Shastri's reinstatement.

Who devised the rating system?

The BCCI originally devised the rating methodology while picking the head coach of the India women's team late last year. The five parameters were arrived at after seeking suggestions from the current CAC, which slightly tweaked the original set of suggestions. WV Raman was appointed as the Indian women coach using the same parameters that were later applied for the men's coach selection process.

 

In what order did the candidates appear?

The interview process began in the morning with Robin Singh, the former India allrounder, followed by former Mumbai captain Lalchand Rajput, who briefly served as India's cricket manager, and won the inaugural World T20 and their first-ever tri-series triumph in Australia a decade ago. Former Australia allrounder Moody was the third on the list and attended the interview via video-conference. Former New Zealand coach Hesson attended his interview in person, in the afternoon, while Shastri was the last to speak to the CAC, via video conference from the Caribbean, where he is on tour with the India team.

 

Where exactly did Shastri pip the others?

International experience, track record, and his plan for the way forward were the key areas that Shastri topped the scores in. ESPNcricinfo understands that Shastri began the interview speaking for around 20 minutes, explaining what the India team was like back when he took charge in 2017, when he replaced Anil Kumble, and went on to list India's achievements under his watch, before going to what plans he had for the team going forward. Shastri, according to a CAC member, was precise, specific and clear.

Shastri's new stint will involve two T20 World Cups, to be played in successive years - next year in Australia and then in India in 2021. In his first stint (as team director), India reached the semi-finals in 2016. Shastri has no T20 franchise coaching experience, unlike Hesson, Moody and Robin, who all have been involved in coaching roles in domestic T20 tournaments for several years.

However, with the inaugural World Test Championship having just commenced, and the ODI League to begin in May 2020, the CAC was keen on a coach who could handle the team across all three formats. Shastri is understood to have outscored his competitors in this regard.

The CAC was impressed by the presentations of Hesson, Moody and even Robin, but felt none of the three had coached an international team recently, and were more involved in T20 leagues across the world.

 

 

So was Shastri's appointment straightforward?

The CAC member disagreed. The person said tough questions were asked of Shastri, including why India could not win a few tough series or any world tournaments under his watch. Shastri is understood to have provided the break-up of the results, and in which areas the team came second, and what solutions he had in mind.

 

One of the members is believed to have asked what sort of a say Shastri had had in the India dressing room, given the widespread perception that Virat Kohli, the captain, leads the ship. Incidentally, Shastri himself had said the captain leads the ship when he took over as head coach in 2017. Shastri told the CAC that he would invite its members to the dressing room to observe the atmosphere. He stressed that wherever required he, as head coach, speaks out and discusses issues with everyone, and not just the captain.

 

Will Shastri have a say in the appointment of his support staff?

As per the new BCCI constitution, the selection panel will shortlist the candidates. It is understood that the head coach could be consulted before finalising the three assistant coaches - batting, bowling and fielding.

[kosingh]

Riiiiight. They really needed all that drama to select Shastri? 

 

[Stan AF]

[Real McCoy]

There's no way bewda is better than Moody and Hesson. Bullshit article to cover up why he was picked. They must have thought we are that gullible.

[Vijy]

2 minutes ago, Real McCoy said:

There's no way bewda is better than Moody and Hesson. Bullshit article to cover up why he was picked. They must have thought we are that gullible.

yes, they figured the public are morons

[Bigg Brother]

Oh bollocks!!

 

Tough questions my foot..It is disrespect to other candidates specially Moody and Hesson. I know they wont but they should speak out against this farce procedure of selection.

[Real McCoy]

4 minutes ago, Bigg Brother said:

Oh bollocks!!

 

Tough questions my foot..It is disrespect to other candidates specially Moody and Hesson. I know they wont but they should speak out against this farce procedure of selection.

Infact this may hinder them to apply in the future. Moody and Hesson made SL and NZ punch above their weight respectively. Tough loss for Indian cricket that one of them didn't get selected and we are faced with this 7 and a half sani named Shastri

[nevada]

They should have just reappointed him or told him bye bye and then invited applications from interested candidates. Instead, they have gone through a farcical process frustrating fans and other applicants. Now that he is appointed, let's hope for the best. I read yesterday that he is not happy at not being part of the selection process and didn't get the players he liked for the world cup. I hope he gets the opportunity to be really impactful and make a positive difference.

[Real McCoy]

3 minutes ago, nevada said:

They should have just reappointed him or told him bye bye and then invited applications from interested candidates. Instead, they have gone through a farcical process frustrating fans and other applicants. Now that he is appointed, let's hope for the best. I read yesterday that he is not happy at not being part of the selection process and didn't get the players he liked for the world cup. I hope he gets the opportunity to be really impactful and make a positive difference.

And you believe that? He was picked by Kohli under the implicit condition that he will be a yes man to rat, never question rat, and do some PR work for rat & the player rat likes. We were never under the impression that he ever got into the selection panel or even complained about it. He is only complaining now to transfer blame onto the selection committee who were under the influence of rat. It should be the other way around but rat's popularity has increased too much and the selectors are mere puppets.

 

Shastri used to kiss Gavaskar's a$$ to get into the Indian team and stunk throughout the 80s. Now he's kissing rat's a$$. That's the difference. Kissing up is the key to keep yourself relevant in Indian cricket and any office in India. He's a good politician that's all.

[Vijy]

1 hour ago, Real McCoy said:

And you believe that? He was picked by Kohli under the implicit condition that he will be a yes man to rat, never question rat, and do some PR work for rat & the player rat likes. We were never under the impression that he ever got into the selection panel or even complained about it. He is only complaining now to transfer blame onto the selection committee who were under the influence of rat. It should be the other way around but rat's popularity has increased too much and the selectors are mere puppets.

 

Shastri used to kiss Gavaskar's a$$ to get into the Indian team and stunk throughout the 80s. Now he's kissing rat's a$$. That's the difference. Kissing up is the key to keep yourself relevant in Indian cricket and any office in India. He's a good politician that's all.

shastri the player, while limited, was at least 100x better than shastri the "coach".

[adi B]

Shastri is not even a coach ,he's there just as a yes man , just agrees with whatever rat says, provides a safe envelope of delusion over some players ,delivers fiery PCs even after getting thrashed.

And yeah he's very open and free, doesn't care if players hit the bars ,bring their wags and all that ,no discipline at all which players like .

In short he doesn't give a damn about the team or takes any responsibility ,its only the money ,booze he cares ,in short  a great job ! I wont blame him ,its the COA and the selecting committee at fault 

[Ankit_sharma03]

First criteria for any coach shud be how he prepares his team for the game. To be honest thats the biggest job of the coach. 

 

Shastri took our team to SA with only one practice session. 

We didnt play a single practice game on england tour. 

 

Complete failure in preparing the team. He shud have been sacked right then itself 

[New guy]

[Real McCoy]

1 hour ago, Vijy said:

shastri the player, while limited, was at least 100x better than shastri the "coach".

Let's agree to disagree shall we IMO he's useless in every career choice he has made but the dude is very lucky to have been relevant for so long. His batting is too slow even by 80s standards, bowling lacklustre. Even as a commie, he is not some Ian Chappell or Tony Greig. He is as boring as his batting with usual catchphrases that became funny. Has no insight of the game and deliver what the bowler/batsman is trying to do.

[Vijy]

3 hours ago, Real McCoy said:

Let's agree to disagree shall we IMO he's useless in every career choice he has made but the dude is very lucky to have been relevant for so long. His batting is too slow even by 80s standards, bowling lacklustre. Even as a commie, he is not some Ian Chappell or Tony Greig. He is as boring as his batting with usual catchphrases that became funny. Has no insight of the game and deliver what the bowler/batsman is trying to do.

his batting was quite useless for ODIs, but alright for tests. had an avg of 40+ as opener, which very few indians had while opening. besides, I wasn't claiming that he was a "good" cricketer. it's just that, in relative terms, his cricket was better than his so-called coaching.

[The Dark Horse]

Yeah right.

[rkt.india]

Tuchiye. What is the use of so many interviews if you have to chose the incumbent.  Incumbent should not be in choice list when you are holding fresh interviews. 

[Vijy]

Just now, rkt.india said:

Tuchiye. What is the use of so many interviews if you have to chose the incumbent.  Incumbent should not be in choice list when you are holding fresh interviews. 

these "interviews" were mostly a sham to convince the gullible public into believing that a "thorough" and "fair" selection process was followed.

[bahubali]

BC sab bikey hai ye kapil dev bhi doodh ka dhula nahi hai.....same guy who was spouting rubbish after selling himself in ICL, not to mention so many match fixing allegations. BC agar tough question pe hi selection honi thi then they could have asked these question to him directly rather than going through this farcial process. But no surprise when there are few gullible fan even on ICF who thinks shastri is doing wonders and there are many like them as common masses.

Edited August 18, 2019 by bahubali

[cricketfan28]

Lol, they don't have to justify, most people are used to this by now.