New Delhi: It has been almost two years since Team India worked under a full-time coach.
After expiry of Duncan Fletcher's contract, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) showed no intent in appointing his successor.
Instead, the world's richest cricket board appeared more than happy to let Ravi Shastri continue to perform the role of team director.
Shastri and his team - Sanjay Bangar, Bharat Arun and R Sridhar - have done a commendable job since joining the team in 2014.
Under this new arrangement, the Men in Blue made it to the last four of 2015 World Cup and the 2016 World T20, and also rose to No. 1 on the Test rankings for a period of eight weeks earlier this year.
MS Dhoni's side also notched its first ever limited-overs bilateral series in Australia, as they crushed Steve Smith's side 3-0.
The Test team too fared well, winning in Sri Lanka and beating South Africa at home.
However, the Indian board has now made up its mind to abolish the current arrangement in favor of a full-time coach.
"Ravi Shastri's contract has ended. We are looking at a full-time coach and the decision will be taken by the Cricket Advisory Committee. There won't be a Team Director and a full-time coach. It will be only one post and even Ravi's contract can come up for renewal," BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur told PTI on Friday.
"The meeting of the CAC is expected to happen post April 3. It can happen before the start of the IPL also. We will have to decide on the date," he further added.
It is no secret that being the man in charge of India cricket is the toughest job in the sport. The new coach will also oversee India's campaign for the next World Cup in 2019
With so much media frenzy and public pressure surrounding Indian cricket, even BCCI cannot afford to make a mistake with this appointment.
Five potential candidates for the role of next India coach
Justin Langer
Rahul Dravid
Ravi Shastri
Andy Flower
Michael Hussey
