Mumbai: Ravi Shastri’s familiarity with the players and understanding of the current Indian team gave him the edge over the others as he was re-appointed the head coach till November 24, 2021.
The three-member Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising of Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad and Shantha Rangaswamy marked each individual separately. While Shastri got the job, Mike Hesson came second and Tom Moody came third.
“It took us the whole day, we had a gap of roughly three hours because we were waiting for two people from the West Indies to give interview. The time zone was totally different,” Kapil said at the press conference.
“One was Australia (Tom Moody) and that is why we needed so much time. The system was very simple. We had our own marking. I did not ask him or her (CAC co-members) what marks we were giving (to each candidate),” he said.
“We all unanimously decided after doing all the accounts and number which took us little bit of time, No. 3 is Tom Moody. No. 2 is Mike Hesson from New Zealand. He is very intelligent and good young boy. And No. 1 is Ravi Shastri which you all were expecting,” India’s first World Cup winning captain said.
Asked what made them re-elect Shastri who is now with the team in the West Indies, Kapil said: “I felt he has more skill of communication. They may not have felt the same way. We did not discuss. We were given mark sheets and we put our numbers listening to them and their presentation. We all three felt today we became much more intelligent before we went to the room. We learnt so much how much hard work they put in those presentations.”
“They had given us the point system. We were to give out of 100, how many marks each coach can deserve. There were four-five parameters and everybody had given the marks. We did not discuss who is giving whom how many marks. Then we calculated and it was a very close race I can tell you. The difference was very small numbers, we were amazed also,” he said.
Gaekwad echoed Kapil, saying Shastri is someone who understands the Indian cricketing system very well.
“Being a current coach, knowing the boys well, knowing the problems well. He is well versed with the entire system. He is somebody who knows the system and players well and can communicate well. I think he got the advantage,” he said.
Kapil stressed that captain Virat Kohli was not consulted while selecting the coach. “Captain was not consulted, if he was taken into account all team members would have to be taken into account. We did not ask anyone. We did not have the advantage.”
Asked about Shastri’s presentation and how was it better than others since it was a close call, Kapil said: “That is confidential. He has given his presentation he did in last two years and how team can improve. He said where he needs help from selectors and from the board to make this team much stronger.”
Former SunRisers Hyderabad head coach Tom Moody had already been rejected last time (in 2017) and it was believed that former Kiwi coach Hesson would be the one giving Shastri a tough fight as he has the credential to match Shastri’s achievements.
The 44-year-old, who holds the distinction of being the longest serving coach of the Black Caps, has a vast coaching experience. His first international assignment was with Kenya after the 2011 World Cup.
He had signed a two-year contract but had resigned much before the completion of his tenure citing security reasons. He then replaced John Wright as the New Zealand coach in 2012.
Under his coaching, the Kiwis reached their first-ever World Cup final in 2015 where they lost to Australia. His contract was extended in 2016 until the end of the 2019 World Cup, but Hesson resigned in June 2018 in order to spend more time with his family.
Hesson also served as the head coach of IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab before stepping down on August 8 this year. He is in running for the position of Pakistan’s head coach as well.
But in the end, Shastri’s performance with the Indian team saw the former all-rounder being given his third term at the helm. With the team playing West Indies at present, Shastri connected with the committee over Skype.
IANS
