What’s the story?
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has retained the services of India’s batting coach Sanjay Bangar and fielding coach R Sridhar for the upcoming Champions Trophy even though their contracts ended in March.
“It is decided that the support staff will remain the same at the Champions Trophy with the only change being Kapil Malhotra taking over as manager. Bangar and Sridhar have been asked to extend their services for the duration of the tournament and then it will be decided what needs to be done,” BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary told The Indian Express.
In case you didn’t know...
The only change in the team’s support staff travelling to England is Kapil Malhotra, who was with the team during their ODI tour to Australia in January last year. He will be taking over from Anil Patel as the team manager. Apart from that, no other changes have been announced as of yet.
The heart of the matter
The Supreme Court-appointed committee of administrators (COA) has also discussed introducing annual contracts for all BCCI-appointed coaches, which means they cannot associate themselves with any IPL franchise from next year.
Sanjay Bangar, who played for the Railways team in domestic cricket, has had a positive impact on the Indian cricketers. During his tenure, a lot of young batsmen have progressed. Kohli, during the one-off Test against Bangladesh in Hyderabad, had also credited Bangar for having “transformed” Indian batsmen since joining the team.
Sridhar, meanwhile, has also played a key role in Indian team’s development since his joining. And after working alongside Ravi Shastri, he is looking into matters regarding fielding with the current head coach Anil Kumble.
Also read: Suresh Raina is disappointed and hurt at not being picked for the ICC Champions Trophy 2017
What’s next?
The Indian Premier League ends on May 22, after which the 15-member Indian squad will travel to England where the defending champions will play their first match against arch-rivals Pakistan on June 4 at Edgbaston. They then play Sri Lanka on June 8 and South Africa on June 11.
Virat Kohli will continue leading the side, while the name of his deputy has not been revealed yet.
Author’s Take
Just like the selection of the 15-member squad, the retention of the two coaches is also a safe approach by the committee. To introduce new coaches only 20 days before the prestigious 50-overs tournament begins would have been unwise.
Also read: 7 Indian Players who played in 2013 Champions Trophy but won't play in 2017
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