Kapil Dev-led CAC wants to be involved in selecting assistant coaches

The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), which oversaw the reappointment of Ravi Shastri as head coach of the India men's team, wants to have a say in picking his three assistants too.

The CAC has written to the BCCI expressing its desire to be involved in selecting the batting, bowling and fielding coaches, even though the senior selection panel, currently headed by MSK Prasad, is empowered to choose them as per the board's new constitution.

All three CAC members - former India captain Kapil Dev, former India opener Anshuman Gaekwad, and the former India women captain Shanta Rangaswamy - have signed the letter, which reasons that the task of picking the three assistant coaches should be given the same importance as the selection of the head coach, and to that end, the CAC's opinion should be taken on board. Cricday understands that Shastri could also be consulted before finalising the three assistant coaches.

"Yes, we should have a say," Kapil said during the announcement of the head coach, in Mumbai on Friday. "If you ask me, we have a recommendation to the board from the three of us and [we have asked for it] to put in black and white in the minutes [that] it is not right if we are not doing that job also. We [have] given a letter to the board."

When asked if the CAC should exclusively be entrusted with the responsibility of selecting the support staff - as was the case with the head coach's appointment - Kapil disagreed.

"No, including [both the CAC and the selection panel]," Kapil said. "There should not be a communication gap. Their (the selectors') strength and our strength is the same for the team; we want to make sure that team should get benefited, and that's what we wanted. If we can help them (the selection committee), and the chairman of selection committee, and his team can help [us], and the board also want[s] the same and I have no doubt you (the media) also want the same [that] the Indian team should do well."

During the previous appointment procedure of the head coach and his support staff, in 2017, the CAC at the time - Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman - also recommended to the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) that Zaheer Khan (bowling consultant) and Rahul Dravid (batting consultant for overseas Test series) come on board. The CoA said these weren't official appointments, and that the CAC hadn't been empowered to make them. In the end, following the recommendation of Shastri himself, the BCCI appointed Sanjay Bangar (batting), Bharat Arun (bowling) and R Sridhar as his assistants.

Now, the BCCI will forward the CAC's letter to the CoA ahead of the interview process for the three assistant coaches, which will take place next week, tentatively from August 19 to 22.

The process of selection of the head coach and remainder of the backroom staff began last month with the BCCI putting out an advertisement to invite applications. The board had stated in the advertisement that Shastri and the rest of the existing coaching staff comprising Bangar, Arun and Sridhar would get automatic entries during the recruitment process.

Former chief selector Vikram Rathour and former Mumbai and India batsman Pravin Amre are understood to have also thrown their hat in the ring for the role of batting coach, while Venkatesh Prasad is among those vying for the job of bowling coach.