BCCI meets Gambhir, Rohit, other key members

India’s coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Rohit Sharma. File
| Photo Credit: AFP

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) met with key members of India’s men’s cricket team’s management to take a stock after a disastrous season of Test cricket and planning the way forward.

The meeting was attended by Test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma, head coach Gautam Gambhir, chief selector Ajit Agarkar, joint secretary Devajit Saikia (who on Sunday will take over as the BCCI secretary) and former secretary Jay Shah.

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All the personnel were huddled together at a south Mumbai hotel, before Shah’s felicitation by the BCCI for having been elected as the International Cricket Council (ICC) chair.

It is understood that the meeting discussed the role of coaching staff and contemplated on charting out the transition of the longer format squads. Neither Rohit nor Virat Kohli – both out of form – are in danger of their place being questioned for the Champions Trophy.

A lot of feedback was sought about Gambhir and his coaching staff, who had drawn flak from legends including Sunil Gavaskar, after India’s poor strategic planning in the last two Test series.

After beating Bangladesh at home, India suffered a humiliating whitewash in a three-Test series at home and then conceded five-Test series in Australia 3-1 and lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after a decade.

The sorry losses meant India for the first time will not feature in the final of the ICC Test Championship in June.

With captain Rohit – who dropped himself for the final Test – and veteran batter Kohli suffering a woeful run with the willow, their future in Test cricket was not discussed in the meeting.

The BCCI hierarchy had met with the team hierarchy prior to the departure to Australia in November. It will be interesting to see if the selection committee is forced to pull the plug during the long break in international cricket between the Champions Trophy and the tour to England.