The Committee of Administrators (CoA) has put a hold on the contracts of Ravi Shastri, Zaheer Khan and Rahul Dravid and asked BCCI’s legal team to show the drafts on Saturday. This happened two days after they were appointed the head coach, bowling consultant and batting consultant respectively. According to a BCCI official, while BCCI was working on contracts, CoA asked to show the drafts first.
“The BCCI’s legal team was working on the contracts. But the CoA asked us to first show them the drafts. Given the situation, it does look like Shastri’s wish to have Bharat Arun as a full-time bowling coach will be accepted. And the way the contract is likely to shape, it will be difficult for Zaheer to accept the role of a consultant on a tour-to-tour basis. It will be an internal meeting and they said they will discuss the quantum of payment,” the official said.
BCCI on Thursday said that Zaheer had proposed a tour-to-tour basis role which was contrary to that issued on Tuesday release. This type of role was only given to Rahul Dravid.
The official also said that CAC wanted to take time in taking the decision but CoA was in a rush. “This was specifically the reason why the CAC wanted some time before announcing the coaches. They wanted to have everyone on board. But the COA got involved and rushed the announcement,” the official said.
Shastri will now probably meet the members of CoA on Monday and his main concern will be the all-time availability of Zaheer. The main question will be that whether Zaheer is able to give 250 days a year to the Indian team. Also, Shastri wants Bharat Arun to join as bowling coach and trusts his work despite CAC having appointed Zaheer appointed for the post.
A BCCI official told, “The board has been chasing him for over a year now. He was reluctant to serve full-time then. He hasn’t said ‘no’ yet. So the decision as per the CAC stands. Once Zaheer sees the contract, he can decide for himself whether he wants to stay with the team full-time. As of now, he should be travelling to Sri Lanka with the team next week.”