Ravi Shastri appointed Team India coach

Ravi Shastri was on Tuesday appointed coach of the Indian cricket team for the first time. He earlier served in the capacity of a Team director. The decision was taken on late Tuesday night after the Cricket Advisory committee (CAC) comprising of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman had a conference call with captain Virat Kohli, who is currently on a holiday in the US. Meanwhile, Zaheer Khan has been appointed as the bowling coach while Sanjay Bangar remains the batting coach, reports NDTV. In an interesting development, Rahul Dravid has been asked to work with the Indian team as a batting consultant. But this will not be on a permanent basis. Dravid will join the team as and when required, mostly on overseas tours.

UPDATE: @RaviShastriOfc appointed as the Head Coach of the Indian Cricket Team till ICC World Cup 2019 pic.twitter.com/DwjEjRdFMd

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 11, 2017

UPDATE: Mr. Rahul Dravid is appointed as the Batting Consultant for overseas Test tours pic.twitter.com/mS1KcVI2Hh— BCCI (@BCCI) July 11, 2017

UPDATE: @ImZaheer is appointed as the Bowling Consultant of the India Cricket Team till ICC World Cup 2019 pic.twitter.com/DtOXce957Z

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 11, 2017

NDTV has learnt that when asked, the Indian skipper's choice was Shastri. Shastri also had the approval of cricketing legend and CAC member Sachin Tendulkar. Shastri in his interview to the CAC had said the team's form had dipped in the last 12 months and his aim was to bring them back on track. "On Cricket Advisory Committee's recommendation, we have decided to appoint Ravi Shastri as the chief coach while Zaheer Khan will be appointed bowling coach for a period of two years," BCCI acting president CK Khanna confirmed the development to PTI on Tuesday.