The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has finally decided to appoint an entirely new T20 management team. With the World Test Championship Final and the ODI World Cup just around the corner, the Indian cricket board wants to work on the T20 setup in the background.
While Hardik Pandya has been praised for taking over as captain from Rohit Sharma, the BCCI has yet to name a replacement for Rahul Dravid. However, a management change is unavoidable and will most likely occur before India’s January series against Sri Lanka.
“We are seriously mulling on it. More than it being Rahul Dravid or anyone’s ability, it is a question of managing tight schedules & having specialized skills on board. T20 now is like a separate sport, tough calendar & regular events. We also need to imbibe change. Yes, I can confirm – India soon will have a new T20 coaching setup,” a top BCCI said.
“We are not sure by when, but we are certain about India needs a fresh approach to T20 setup. We will have an announcement of a new captain before January. And a new coach can follow, but as I said nothing is final.”
When India lost to England by ten wickets in the T20 World Cup semi-final, there was a lot of backlash. Fans began calling for Rohit Sharma’s dismissal, while cricket experts suggested a change in management. Harbhajan Singh and Ravi Shastri argued for a new setup with new faces in the camp.
According to BCCI plans, some senior members will be phased out. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are two examples. Mohammad Shami, R. Ashwin, and Dinesh Karthik will also be absent in future T20s.
“The new selection committee gets appointed in December. They are the ones who will take all formal decisions about the Indian squad. But it is certain that we need to move on from a few names. Rohit and Virat have already been spoken to. They are on the same page with the BCCI,” said a BCCI official.