Ravi Shastri back as head coach of India Cricket Team, to be at the helm till 2021

Ravi Shastri has been appointed as the head coach of the Indian cricket team, continuing his tenure after the end of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 semi-final where India lost to New Zealand in the semi-final by 18 runs. Shastri was given an extension for the West Indies series and he will now be the head coach until November 2021. The Cricket Advisory Committee, headed by Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad and Shantha Rangaswamy announced his retention in the press conference in Mumbai and Kapil Dev was quick to add that India cricket team skipper Virat Kohli had no say in the coach selection. 

Shastri has  been reappointed for a two-year period, ending with the 2021 T20 World Cup in India. This will be Shastri's fourth stint with the national team, having served briefly as the Cricket Manager (2007 tour of Bangladesh), Team Director (2014-2016) and head coach (2017-2019). Shastri pipped former India teammates Robin Singh and Lalchand Rajput along with former New Zealand coach Mike Hesson and Australian Tom Moody to the post. "Number three was Tom Moody, number two was Mike Hesson. Number one is Ravi Shastri as all of you were expecting... (But) It was a very close race," said Kapil. 

Earlier, Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) head Kapil Dev had agreed with his colleague Shantha Rangaswamy that skipper Virat Kohli's opinion "needs to be respected". The World Cup winning former skipper however assured that his panel will do their job to the best of their ability. Kohli during his pre-departure press conference didn't hide that he would love to see current head coach Ravi Shastri get another term.

"That's his (Kohli) opinion we have to respect everybody's opinion," Kapil told reporters before receiving the 'Bharat Gaurav', East Bengal's highest honour during their foundation day celebrations at the Netaji Indoor Stadium. 

The CAC reappoints Mr Ravi Shastri as the Head Coach of the Indian Cricket Team. pic.twitter.com/vLqgkyj7I2

— BCCI (@BCCI) August 16, 2019

Before leaving for the West Indies tour, the Indian skipper has already made it clear that they share a great camaraderie with incumbent coach Ravi Shastri as he backed him to continue till the 2020 Twenty20 World Cup. 

All the six candidates have tremendous coaching pedigree. Hesson was part of the New Zealand team and was at the helm when they reached the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 where they lost to Australia. Recently, Hesson parted ways with Kings XI Punjab after being in the team for just one year. 

Simmons has had coaching experience with Ireland and Afghanistan and he helped the West Indies win the World T20 for the second time in 2016. However, the former West Indies opening batsman had said he could not be available for the interview. Moody has coached the Sri Lankan side and has enjoyed success with Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League. Among the Indians, Rajput was the manager of the Indian cricket team which won the inaugural World T20 in 2007 under the leadership of MS Dhoni while Robin Singh was the fielding coach. Under Shastri, India scaled the No.1 Test ranking and Kohli's team won a Test series Down Under for the first time.

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HIGHLIGHTS

• Ravi Shastri has been appointed as the head coach for a second successive term.
• India has lost in the semi-final of the 2015 and 2019 World Cup.
• Ravi Shastri got an extension after the end of the World Cup for Windies series.